Into the Nexus
by Xanrivash
Summary: Crossover with Nexus War. Axel, Roxas, Demyx, and Zexion are sent to the dying worlds known as the Nexus to find the Organization's newest member. Temporary character death.
1. Prologue: Emergency Meeting

"Admit it, Axel, your time limit's run out, and we only got one new member despite how many bones I got broken in Port Royal."

Axel shrugged, not wanting to admit defeat. "We're still close enough to count, timewise."

Demyx sighed and rolled his eyes. "Axel, I've been playing sitar for two weeks, which required that a. my sitar put itself back together and b. my arm put itself back together. It's already too late for Xanrivash to break your record for shortest time at the bottom by about two weeks. Don't make me prove I can laugh at you without cringing; it's not in my nature to make fun of people, but..."

"Not in your nature - yeah, right."

"What are you two talking about?"

"Ah, sorry, Rox." Axel half-smiled to himself, as if about to let Roxas in on a private joke. "I dunno if you've noticed or not, but it seems like whenever Demyx breaks something, we get a new member. Remember, when you first joined, he was laid up with a broken shoulderblade. When Marluxia joined, he was on crutches. When Larxene joined, his hand was in a cast. And...well, you know what sort of spectacular damage he'd suffered in Xanrivash's case...gotcha!"

Roxas groaned as Axel gave his video game character a thorough hiding. "You were just distracting me so you could do that."

"Hey, I resent that. I was trying to explain the joke to you. I just took the opportunity to kick your ass while I was at it."

Demyx snorted. "For once. Seems to me, Roxas gets most of the luck on his machine."

"Well, Roxas and I each know our way around our own consoles best...but since we do most of our playing on Roxas's PS3, I'm starting to learn my way around that pretty well myself. And it's starting to show."

"Hmph. Maybe we should play with the Xbox more often. That way I can learn to kick you around like a football there as well as here."

Demyx shook his head in bewilderment. "You two might as well be speaking Naja'tar, as far as I'm concerned. I think the only video game I'll ever know how to play is Guitar Hero."

Axel and Roxas looked at each other. "That's it. We have got to get Demyx hooked."

"Don't even think about it!" Demyx held up his hands defensively. "I value my free time, thank you kindly the door's over there!"

"Demyx, it's my door, I don't have to leave if I don't want to..."

"Too bad, 'cause you're about to have to, dude."

Roxas glared. "Xigbar, do you ever knock?"

"I heard him do it once," Demyx offered. Roxas glared at him too.

"So, what's up?" Axel finally got around to asking.

"The boss has called an emergency meeting. And you -" Xigbar pointed at Demyx "- are finally fit to attend it."

Demyx, who'd been exempt from attending meetings during his lengthy recovery from three days in the hands of a lynch mob, rolled his eyes. "I knew recovery had its disadvantages."

"I know who you can talk to to get yourself back in a cast again, dude."

"Saix. See, I know too. I'll take the meeting."

"Smart choice. See you in five."

As soon as Xigbar was gone, Axel leaned in close. "I bet it's about a new member."

Demyx sighed. "If you want to bet, take it up with Luxord. At the meeting." He teleported directly to his seat - it was the only real way to get into it, considering how far off the ground they were. Well, Xigbar could walk up to his, and it turned out Xanrivash could climb into hers - though where she found the handholds Demyx still wasn't sure - but for most of them, teleportation was the only route possible. Soon enough, Axel and Roxas appeared in their own chairs. **Nice of you to show up,** he signed to them.

**If it's a new member, you owe me,** Axel signed back.

**I don't think I ever agreed to that. Roxas, did I ever agree to that?**

**I don't think so. Nice try, Axel.** Demyx might have signed a response, but he noticed Zexion glaring at the three of them and put his hands down. Zexion was the only other member who understood sign language, and the only one who might realize when they were using it to chat idly before - and even during - meetings.

As soon as Vexen showed up - late and looking a little harried; apparently his latest experiment wasn't going as well as it could have - the meeting could begin. Demyx, as usual, found himself zoning out during the Superior's usual mind-numbing speech about Kingdom Hearts, which wasn't a bad thing - he did some of his best composing while listening to Xemnas drone. _Though if the point of this meeting is to listen to him sing love songs to Kingdom Hearts, I feel a little cheated..._

"Finally, the reason I summoned all of us here..." Demyx took that as a cue to straighten up and actually pay attention, while still trying not to forget the music he'd been working on. "As some of you may already be aware, a fifteenth stone has appeared in the Proof of Existence - Eight, dare I ask what it is you find so amusing?"

* * *

AN: (snickers) And with that, I leave you hanging for a bit. Wow, a prologue. I haven't done one of those since "Whoever Katrina Is". 

Ennyway. This is going to be a crossover with Nexus War (ever heard of that? It's kind of like Urban Dead), because I wanted to see the Trio (and Zexion) in the Nexus. This means the mysterious new member is a denizen of the Nexus. In case you're really curious, Nexus War has its own Wiki.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	2. Angels and Tigers

"Four of us. Four, on a search-and-recovery mission. This must be a damn scary world."

"Can't be that scary, if they're sending me instead of, say, anyone useful." Demyx ducked a wadded pair of socks that came sailing through the bathroom from Axel's room. "Thanks, I always need more socks."

"Give my socks back, you dumbass." Demyx threw them underhand, instead of throwing them with force like Axel had; the redhead caught them easily. "Besides, you're easier to take along than a few dozen gallons of water. Maybe it's a desert world."

"Oh, lovely. I have some use besides entertainment value. I'm the official Organization waterboy." Demyx stared critically at the oversized backpack that was meant to be the only luggage he was allowed to bring. "I still don't get why they need to send four of us, but can afford to send Zexion, who's not much good in a fight, and me, who's no good at all in a fight unless you need someone to run away."

"Well, Zexion's the only one who's ever been to the Nexus before and has the only hope of ever getting us oriented before something tragic and unfortunate happens to the new guy before we ever see him. I'm good in a fight. Roxas is pretty handy in a fight, and is in need of experience. You..." Axel stuck his head through the bathroom door and looked carefully at Demyx. "I guess they sent you because your self-esteem is so light to pack."

"Oh, because they needed something to balance out your ego?"

"Bite me." Demyx snapped his teeth at Axel. "Not literally, dumbass."

"If I really wanted to bite you, I'd have to come closer." Demyx looked into his backpack again. "How much underwear do I really need?"

"Depends. How much of it do you think you're gonna crap from fright before we're through?"

Since Demyx tended to make a lot of jokes about his reputation for cowardice - which wasn't entirely undeserved - Axel figured he was perfectly in the clear to make a joke of his own. It wasn't until Demyx's bathroom door slammed and locked that he realized maybe he'd gone a little too far.

* * *

Demyx wasn't one to hold a grudge for very long - usually just until he got distracted. So it was a bit of a surprise when the four of them assembled and he still refused to look at Axel. Axel was left wondering what the hell he'd said. 

"Hopefully this uncharacteristic hostility isn't going to interfere with our mission?" Zexion asked in a "say-yes-or-I'll-make-your-existence-hell" sort of tone. As the most senior member of the party, and the only one who came within shouting distance of knowing his way around the four-worlds-in-one known as the Nexus, he was the unofficial leader of the group.

Roxas was more direct. "So what did you do this time?" Axel shrugged helplessly while Demyx pretended there wasn't anything wrong, it's just that everything interesting, such as that wall over there, was in the opposite direction from Axel.

Zexion sighed and shook his head. "I do hope the two of you bear in mind that if you make our existences any less pleasant, we will return the favor. Now, if we may begin our actual mission..." He gestured, and a portal opened.

Zexion's appearance didn't change on the other side of the portal; the only alteration to Demyx's appearance was a little tattoo of a wave next to his right eye. Axel didn't feel any different as he crossed between worlds. But... "Roxas...the hell?!"

Roxas looked down at himself in confusion. "What?"

Axel hesitated, wondering where to begin. The clothes and the voice were the only way he was sure it was still Roxas he was talking to. His skin had suddenly turned black - not African black, but truly jet black - and his teeth, hair, and eyes were all the same so-bright-it-glows white. In fact, his whole body seemed to glow the faintest bit, despite his skin tone. Demyx eventually spoke up. "Wow, Roxas...you look different."

Roxas blinked. "How different?"

Axel swallowed hard. "I think we need to get you a mirror."

Roxas looked critically at Axel. "I'm sure whatever's happened to me is at least as spectacular, if not more so, but your tattoos seem to have grown."

"...Grown?"

Roxas nodded. "They used to be about yea long; now they extend all the way down your face and neck and disappear under your collar."

"Huh?" Axel unzipped his robe just far enough to peer down his shirt. "Holy shit..." He hastily peeled off his robe and shirt. His entire body was apparently covered in an intricate network of spidery black and red tattoos. On a hunch, he peeked down the waistband of his pants. Yes, the tattoos continued all the way down. "Kingdom Hearts on a hot dog bun..."

Demyx, who was apparently now distracted enough to forget he wasn't supposed to be acknowledging Axel's existence, circled him curiously. "Wow. That's coverage. Hey, I can see a little origami tiger in there...right there..."

Axel brushed perfunctorily at the spot Demyx indicated. "You're seeing things..." Except the tattoo over that spot suddenly faded, and a piece of folded paper - an origami tiger - suddenly fell to the ground, growing as it fell, until by the time it landed on the grass it was a full-grown, living tiger. "...Please tell me I'm seeing things."

Roxas hastily summoned his Keyblades and assumed a defensive stance. Demyx backed up into the nearest tree. "Nice kitty," he whimpered.

The tiger growled and lashed its tail at the world in general, then forced its head under Axel's hand like a kitten asking to be petted. He stroked it gingerly, and it growled softly, almost like a purr. "Wow...um...it seems to like me..."

"Well, you conjured it; I kind of hope it does..." Roxas murmured, lowering his Keyblades. "Now that tiger would be convenient in a fight, if it's not so friendly to everyone."

"An experienced Nexus Champion would be convenient in a fight, with or without an origami tiger." The three of them jumped - none of them had noticed Zexion had left until he suddenly reappeared. "A Paladin, however, may be something of an inconvenience, if we were more eager to avoid fights than engage in them."

"Is that what Roxas is?" Demyx asked.

"What do you mean, if we want to avoid fights?" Roxas asked.

Zexion cleared his throat. "The Nexal worlds have a reputation, not entirely undeserved, of being largely every man and woman for themselves. Finding and killing enemies, or anyone one comes across who seems weak enough to defeat, is a popular pastime. Only the Angels are an exception to this rule, as they risk corrupting themselves by going around killing all and sundry, especially each other, but I'm reasonably confident the Nobody we're looking for is not a former Angel, and a young, inexperienced Paladin, even one in the company of a powerful, experienced Nexus Champion, is a tempting target for any mortal or Demon."

Axel tried to puzzle out Zexion's meanings. "You mean that all of us are basically targets for anyone who thinks they're tough enough to beat us...especially Roxas because he's the youngest and weakest...wait a second, do you mean Roxas is an angel?"

"Yes."

"Okay, now there's a surprise...and I'm a what?"

"A Nexus Champion. A mortal hero who derives power from a series of mystical tattoos."

Axel looked down at his decorated torso. "Are they permanent now?"

"You'll find out the first time you return for more insulin."

Axel hissed in irritation, glad his insulin pump was more-or-less out of sight except for a short length of tubing. He pulled his robe on over his bare chest, wadding his shirt up and sticking it in a pocket. "So what about you and Demyx?"

"I'm not certain yet." Demyx was discreetly checking himself over for tattoos, and apparently coming up dry; he couldn't see the one on his face. "I do, however, believe we should find some sort of shelter soon." Zexion pointed to the fading red glow in the sky. "The sun has just set, and we'll need steady light. Besides, outdoors is too exposed."

"And I don't suppose any of the rest of you have noticed, but...we're in a graveyard." Roxas gestured at a headstone. "I'm reluctant to say I'm scared of spending the night camped out in a graveyard, but I don't really like the idea."

"Oh...joy." Axel would have taken an instinctive step back, but the tiger was now sitting on his foot. "So where do we go from here?"

Demyx, who'd flattened himself even more against the tree, pointed at the lighted buildings outside the graveyard fence. "There looks good."

* * *

Axel continued to yank uselessly at the locked doorknob. "So what do we do now, just break down the door?" 

Roxas pushed him aside. "Let me." In approximately two minutes, he had the door open, using what looked like a handful of wire.

Axel watched in confusion. "I didn't know you could pick locks."

"Neither did I, but it's a good thing. Now we can close and lock the door behind us."

Axel gestured to Demyx and Zexion, who were still waiting behind the fence. "We're in." Zexion immediately went for the gate, and Demyx just climbed over the fence. The tiger bounded up the stairs ahead of them to a long-abandoned but still somewhat livable apartment. "Guess this is as good a place to crash as any."

Inspection proved the apartment to be truly abandoned, except for a spider and a couple moths, so the Nobodies immediately started claiming various soft surfaces to sleep on. Axel called the couch; Zexion and Roxas each claimed one of the two beds. Demyx, oddly enough, kept silent; when pressed, he said he'd be content to sleep on the floor.

Axel rolled his eyes. "You're not going to be all angsty and down on yourself this mission, are you?" Demyx shrugged. "I'll take that as a yes."

Demyx glared at him. "Axel, has it ever occurred to you that we might need someone to keep watch while the rest of you are enjoying your sweet dreams?"

"...The tiger can do that."

"The tiger can't tell you the difference between a lost kid on a skateboard and a small army of guys with machine guns, can it?"

Axel glanced back at the animal in question, which was sprawled in front of the couch doing its best imitation of a rug. "Point. Hey, Zexion, is there any danger of being overrun by guys with machine guns?"

"In the Nexus? Perpetually."

"Great...well, Demyx, I think you had an excellent idea there." Axel sat down on the couch, being careful of the tiger, and found the remote which might have controlled the big-screen TV if said screen wasn't broken. "Where are we, anyway?"

"In order of specificity, the Nexus, Valhalla, St. Germaine Island, 2936 Eastshore, apartment 2A. The roof of apartment 2B appears to be caved in."

"That's the least reassuring thing I've heard all week, got it memorized?"

"So assuming the roof doesn't cave in on us while we sleep...or that Demyx notices and warns us so we can get out before it does...how are we going to go about actually finding the new guy?" Roxas asked.

"That's an excellent question. I believe I can narrow down the search area, but unless Seven is able to provide us with any more useful information than merely gender and world of origin, this is likely to be a very long and arduous search."

"What do you mean by long and arduous?" Demyx asked, staring out the window at the ocean glimmering in the moonlight.

"The Nexus is four worlds in one. I believe we can safely eliminate Paradise and restrict our search to Valhalla, Stygia, and Purgatorio. Beyond that..."

The rest of them all turned and stared at Zexion as if he was the source of all their future misery. "...Get off the couch. I wanna get some sleep."

* * *

"Ricky!" Lea had been awake for nearly 24 hours by now, but he had no intention of going home as long as he was still on his feet and able to search. His little brother was missing; sleep was irrelevant. Finding Ricky was. 

He shone his flashlight around the dark woods, desperately searching for so much as a footprint in the mud. It had only been three days; three days wasn't all that long; they'd find him again, no matter what the odds were supposed to be...

There. In that tangle of dead branches - Lea wasn't enough of a woodsman to think of it as anything else. But that scrap of vivid lime-green fabric...the same color as the soccer uniform Ricky would have been wearing...

As he came closer for a better look, he heard the unmistakable sound of a pump-action shotgun.

Axel jerked awake, nearly falling off the couch. The rest of it had been a dream, but that pump-action shotgun was real.

* * *

AN: O noes! Someone's got a gun! Who is gonna have to wait...(snickers) I love cliffhangers. 

Next chapter, we might also find out what Demyx and Zexion are and what cool abilities they might have. Now, pause to imagine tattooed Axel in an open robe with no shirt. You like? I like. Paladin!Roxas is giving me a few more problems, though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized? Though Nexus War doesn't even have its own fandom...


	3. Demons and Dragons

Axel summoned a flame to light the dark room, realizing a second later that this would only make him a better target. By then, it didn't matter. "Demyx, what the fuck are you doing with that shotgun?!"

"Making sure it's not loaded," Demyx hissed.

"Where the hell did you even get it, you motherfucker?!"

Demyx shrugged. "The police station a block away. It's been abandoned for a while, but I still managed to find some useful stuff there."

"You found a gun just lying around for anyone to take?!"

"Two of them, actually, and ammo. You can have the shotgun, if you want it; I'll keep the SMG."

"...I'm sorry, you'll keep the what?"

"SMG. Submachine gun."

Axel could feel a headache coming on. "Demyx, how the hell do you even know what you're talking about?"

"From Xigbar. He's a gun nut, on the off-chance you never guessed."

Axel rubbed his forehead. All he could think was _Demyx plus firearms equals more danger to friends than enemies._ "You know, what would you do with it in an actual fight?"

Demyx glared. "What do you think I'd do with it?"

"I know you're all enthusiastic about it right now, when you're safe and relaxed, but just think about it. If we got into an actual fight - think carefully now - if we got into an actual fight, what would you do with that gun?"

Demyx glared defiantly at Axel for a moment. Then he slumped, defeated. "Freeze in my tracks and stand there like an idiot. Like I usually do in a fight." Axel looked carefully at the wall. It was only true, but it wouldn't help to say so out loud. "Maybe I'll give it to Zexion then. I can't imagine that book of his will be a huge help in a fight, and he might actually be able to do something with a gun."

Axel shrugged. "Sorry."

"Eh, it's all right. I would have figured it out eventually - and it's a good thing I figured it out before it actually came to a crisis." Demyx stared blankly out the window.

Axel groaned. "Are you going to angst all night now?"

"I'm going to stare out the window and compose."

"...I should have guessed you'd consider staff paper important enough to bring along on every mission."

"Bite me."

"I'll see if I can get the tiger to do it. I'm going back to sleep. Besides, what were you doing at the police station if you were supposed to be keeping watch here?" A second later, Axel realized that was probably the exact wrong thing to say - it would probably sink Demyx's almost-nonexistent self-esteem even further.

Two seconds later, he found himself thrown off the couch and shoved over to the window to keep watch while Demyx got some sleep.

* * *

"Wakey wakey, short round, time for another beautiful day in the Nexus." 

Roxas rolled over, rubbing his eyes - he wasn't used to waking up to sunshine. "Axel, if I ever hear the words 'wakey wakey' or 'short round' out of you again, I will end you. Holy shit!"

"Roxas, did you only just realize you've changed color? Hey, rise and shine, o esteemed leader."

Zexion brushed his hair out of his face as Roxas ran past them to go find a mirror. "Eight, do be so kind as to make a nuisance of yourself somewhere else."

"Sure thing. Hey, Demyx, get your lazy ass off the couch!"

"Fuck you..."

"And that, gentlemen, is how to start the day with everyone out for your blood."

Demyx groaned. "Was that your objective?"

"I'm hoping I might redeem myself with breakfast."

"...You're joking, right?" Demyx asked. "Seagulls wouldn't eat what you cook."

"Good thing I don't have to cook any of this. Well, I might have to heat the canned soup, but any idiot can do that."

Zexion sat up, combing his hair with his hands. "Canned soup for breakfast?"

"It's what I found, and it's better than nothing, isn't it? Besides, not even I can mess up canned soup."

"I want Nine to keep an eye on you."

Axel shook his head. "Do any of you have any faith in me at all?"

Demyx half rolled over and stuck out his tongue. "Yes we do, Axel. Just not in the kitchen. Remember, I was willing to trust you with a gun last night..."

Roxas and Zexion both stopped in their tracks and stared at Demyx. "Nine...gun?!"

Demyx showed them the shotgun and the submachine gun. "It's amazing what you can find just lying around in this world. Axel, could you encourage this tiger to move away so I can get off the couch without stepping on it and thereby risking life and limb?"

Axel gingerly bent down to pet the tiger, and it roused and looked up at him. "Okay, time to move away from the couch and let Demyx go." The tiger obediently moved a few feet away and curled up next to the broken television. "Lazy bum."

"Axel, it's a big gun. Demyx, where did you get those?!"

"Rox, don't you mean it's a big cat?" Roxas almost slapped his forehead. "Guess you're a little distracted. But like I said, I found these lying around. Truly. Hey, would you like some body armor? Zexion seems to think you've got a big target painted on your back anyway, so..." Demyx held it out to him. "I have no idea what size it is, but any seems better than none."

Roxas took it dubiously. "What do I do with it, put it on over my shirt?"

Zexion looked over at them. "I believe you put it on instead of a shirt."

"I'd think that would be a little uncomfortable."

Axel stuck his head through the kitchen door, with an orange in one hand and a knife in the other. "I'd think catching bullets would be uncomfortable. Or catching anything else."

Roxas nodded. "Well, as long as Demyx has guns, that would be a consideration..."

Demyx sighed and set the guns on the floor. "See, Axel, they have all kinds of faith in you compared to me."

Axel went over and picked up the shotgun. "This is the one you said I could have..." Roxas and Zexion instinctively ducked, but Demyx didn't so much as twitch. "Why aren't you jumping?"

"Because I know it's not loaded. Hey, Zexion, want an SMG?"

"...Do I want a what?"

"Submachine gun. And, Axel, you might wanna go tend the soup."

* * *

"Hey, Zex?" The silver-haired Nobody glared at Axel; that particular nickname had never made it onto his "approved" list. If he had an "approved" list. "You never did explain your plans for eventually finding the guy we're looking for." 

"At the moment, Eight, there's not much to explain. We have no information except for his worlds of residence, his gender, and his weapons - and he may not be able to use his weapons yet, or he may continue to use whatever he was accustomed to in life."

"You said weapons, plural - what kind of weapons?"

"Did you never check the Proof of Existence? Claws. Presumably fixed to some sort of glove or gauntlet. In function, I would assume they would be similar to the claws of a Pariah, Void Walker, or Infernal Behemoth."

"Interesting...so what are those?" Roxas asked.

"Demons. Pariahs are lesser Demons, the Stygian equivalent of Paladins. Void Walkers and Infernal Behemoths are both greater Demons related to Pariahs."

"So you think we're looking for an ex-Demon?"

"Here in his homeworld, he probably still has a demonic form. And Demons are unfortunately numerous."

Demyx scratched his head. "Well, if he's a Demon, doesn't that mean there's a good chance he'll try to take us apart rather than come peacefully?"

"Demonic corruption does not necessarily imply loss of good sense. If it came to a fight, the odds would be heavily against him."

Axel cleared his throat, watching his step to avoid the tiger's tail. "Well, back to my original question - how are we going to find the guy?"

"With only the information we have...we're restricted to the shotgun approach." Axel looked down at the firearm he was carrying. Zexion rolled his eyes. "By which I mean we will have to search at random until we find him or we have more information."

"Wonderful. We're all gonna die of old age first."

"Until we find more information, Eight. Besides, one of the largest Valhalla-based Demon-aligned factions in the Nexus is headquartered within a few blocks of here. If we're very fortunate, Fifteen is a Pirate of R'lyeh."

"So are we going to go knock on their door and say 'hi, any of you lost your hearts recently'?"

"They'd assume we were there to attack their stronghold. Our survival time would be measured in minutes."

The conversation seemed to be going in circles. "So even if he is a Pirate of Whatever, how are we going to find him?"

"Hang around the area...we might start with the shopping mall..."

* * *

The shopping mall in question was gigantic; in its heyday, it would have been a monument to commerce. But every store was closed, most of the shop windows were broken, and there was a thick layer of dust on most of it. Some of it, however, seemed to be disturbed regularly, probably by looters. Eventually, looting was what they'd resorted to, out of sheer boredom.

Originally, they'd planned to stick together at all times, but the sheer size of the mall had led them to split up and go their separate ways, with an unspoken agreement to run for the center of the mall in case of trouble - sounds from the central arena carried throughout the building. Roxas had found a mobile phone somewhere, but that didn't do much good if none of the rest of them had phones. By now, Axel had given up on what he was originally supposed to be doing and was just looking for whatever suited his interest. So far, in the "still-fit-to-wear" category, he'd found a wool scarf that matched his eyes and a pair of wraparound sunglasses that hid them completely. It was a little warm for the scarf, but he appreciated the shades - his eyes weren't used to this much daylight. He was sitting on a bench reading a years-old newspaper when his devoted origami tiger growled.

He lowered the newspaper, removed his sunglasses, and almost immediately wished he hadn't. In front of him were two Things. Thing One was an enormous demon, apparently made out of muscle, bone, and blood, with translucent red skin, giant, batlike wings, and ragged, bloody claws. Thing Two looked like an ordinary man - forget-his-face-as-soon-as-you-look-away ordinary - except for the ragged claws on his hands and the sickening, stomach-twisting sense of evil that radiated from him. "Is...there something I can help you with?" Axel asked, fighting the temptation to run away - and secretly wondering if maybe one of them was who they were looking for.

For some reason, he listened intently. _Ka-thump-bump, ka-thump-bump_ from Thing One. _Badum-pssk, badum-pssk_ from Thing Two.

_...Am I actually hearing their heartbeats?_

_If so...well, I can tell they're not who we want...and they have very sick hearts...and I think they want to kill me._

Axel tossed the newspaper aside and stood up, feeling more than a little doomed. Thing Two smiled at him, and the sick evilness oozing from him increased to the point where he wanted to puke. "Ye're trespassin' in the Pirates' territory, lad, and Cap'n Walken don't take kindly t' intruders. He asks us ta treat 'em...special."

"Is that so." Axel was amazed at how little his voice shook. He didn't think for a second that Two was any less dangerous than One - probably the other way around.

Two shrugged. "Not really. I doubt he gives a rat's arse. But we need our fun, don't we, mate?" Thing One nodded, grinning malevolently; apparently he was valued more for his size than his cranial capacity.

"Really..." Axel suddenly whipped out the shotgun Demyx had given him and fired it at Two's head.

It wasn't loaded. Two smiled even wider, and Axel almost threw up on the spot.

_Great._ He dropped the shotgun and summoned his chakra. The move took them aback for an instant, but no more. _All I have between me and an unpleasant death by demon pirate is my chakra, a tiger, and all sorts of cool powers I have no idea what are or how to use. If immortality isn't one of them, this will be a very short fight._

_Wait, who's that behind them...up the stairs...it's not..._

_Oh, shit. It's Demyx._ Axel pretended he hadn't seen anything or anyone as he slowly backed away from the demons, hoping to get far enough away to make a break for it. It wasn't working; they kept advancing as he kept retreating. _He can't not see what's going on...if he so much as coughs out of turn, they'll go after him and get him too...why in Kingdom Hearts's name didn't I encourage him to keep the SMG, Zexion's on the other end of the damn mall by now...I don't think he's even armed, and summoning his sitar will attract their attention...why couldn't it have been anyone else, say, someone who could do something...the only thing Demyx can do in a fight is either run away or freeze up and make himself a liability..._

_Wait...what is he...what's he signing?_

_Dance...water...dance..._

Axel ducked instinctively, expecting a wall of water, even though he didn't know if the command would work in sign language. It worked, but not as expected - instead, it summoned something like a huge clawed snake made of slushy water, with shards of ice in place of claws and fangs and possibly even horns. Whatever it was, it came roaring over One like a tidal wave full of broken glass. Without any muscle to back him up, Two seemed to lose his oily confidence, and Axel took the opportunity to attack. Under assault from Axel's flaming chakra and the claws of an unhappy tiger, Two quickly took to his heels, fleeing straight through the nearest wall like a ghost. There wasn't much left of One by then but a pool of watery blood and several dark red streaks in the water dragon.

Axel took a few deep breaths to steady himself, and sat down hard on the floor as his legs collapsed underneath him. "Demyx...excellent timing," he called up to the other Nobody. "And whatever that water snake-dragon thing is, I hope you keep it. It's handy."

Demyx nodded, apparently still dizzy with adrenaline. "Any time...it looked like you needed help...I just did the first thing that came to mind...are you okay?..." Suddenly, his face turned green, and he bolted for the nearest trash can without waiting for an answer.

Axel sighed and looked the other way, trying to keep his oddly super-sensitive hearing focused on the fountain a level down from where they were. When it came to natural born killers, Demyx was anything but.

* * *

AN: Poor Demyx. He strikes me as the kind of guy who always throws up after a deadly fight, especially if he killed somebody. Even if it was technically his Hydrodragon doing the killing and the "victim" was not only thoroughly inhuman, but trying to kill one of his friends. 

On the plus side, Demyx has awesome powers too. And yeah, Axel is now able to hear heartbeats. The equivalent in-game skill is called Enhanced Senses.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	4. He can fly?

Demyx staggered down the staircase, secretly grateful for the years of dust and dirt that kept him from slipping the rest of the way down as he tried to avoid stepping in, looking at, or even thinking about the pool of blood at the bottom, which had been a very large Demon in the recent past. Some part of him was aware that he'd just done something spectacular - like not make a fool of himself in a fight - but most of him remembered that his immediate reaction after the adrenaline had worn off was being sick to his stomach. Right now, he was too embarrassed and too shaky to care about the rest of it.

"Hey, there's the hero of the hour!" Axel called in a falsely bright tone that suggested he was trying not to break down after being cornered and almost killed by two Demons. "You okay?" Roxas and Zexion were standing next to him; apparently they'd been drawn by the noise.

"Still a...little shaky, but...I'll be fine," Demyx replied - right as he stepped in the blood.

He wanted to cry.

He carefully edged around the pool, trying to stay out of it as much as possible, but it just wasn't very - the pool had spread so wide it was impossible to keep his feet out of it. It seemed like forever before he finally got to the other side and rejoined the other Nobodies.

"Glad you finally made it," Roxas said, offering him a little support.

Zexion was admiring the water-ice dragon, which was now curled up around the fountain on the lower level. The fountain was starting to freeze up. "A Hydrodragon...now there's a force to be reckoned with...and the clue to your new powers. You're an Elementalist."

"An ele-what? Is that good?" Demyx allowed himself to relax a little - but then he looked down and saw that he'd been leaving a trail of blood on the floor, and his stomach suddenly gave one more lurch, and he threw up at Roxas's feet.

Roxas sighed heavily, looking down at his ruined shoes. "Guess you should have hung around the trash can a little longer."

Demyx groaned and sat down on the bench, burying his face in his hands. "Oh, hell...sorry, Rox...I feel like an ass now..."

"Feel like all the ass you want," Axel said. "You saved mine; I'll forgive you anything."

"Since it wasn't your shoes, forgive me if I just wanna sit down for a few minutes..." Demyx sat there with his head down and his eyes closed for a while, waiting until his stomach stopped twisting and squirming so uncomfortably.

"Hey, Demyx!"

"Axel, I just told you, I wanna sit down for a few minutes..."

"You've been there for ten already. We found a jewelry store that still has some stock left."

Demyx sighed. "And what, pray tell, might we do with jewelry?"

"I don't know what ideas you might have, but I was thinking of taking it somewhere we could sell it for munny."

Demyx looked up reluctantly. Axel stood out like a beacon in the dusty mall, with his red hair and green scarf and pet tiger. "All right...I'll take a look..." Maybe a distraction would help him feel better.

The selection in the store would have been a little disappointing, had it actually been open for business. A few thin chains, a few pairs of earrings, plain gold and silver bands in men's and women's sizes, and a couple bracelets with stones set in them. "Think Larxene would like any of these?" Axel asked, holding up a selection of elegant gold chains with modest diamond pendants.

"What happened to selling it for munny?" Demyx asked distractedly. His eye had been drawn to the plain gold men's rings. Or, rather, to one ring in particular. They all looked more-or-less identical, except for size, but for some reason, this one didn't say "ring" to him. It said "armor".

When he discovered that it fit perfectly on his right thumb, he gave up on the idea of selling it.

"Decided you'd rather bling yourself up or something?" Roxas asked as Demyx added a silver ring in the shape of a cobra and a bracelet with two stones set into it, one red and one turquoise.

"I just had the feeling that not all of this is just plain jewelry," Demyx murmured. "Like some of it might be magical."

Roxas blinked. "Okaaay...think Naminé would like these?" He held up a pair of diamond earrings that glittered in what sunlight came through the windows.

"Does Naminé have pierced ears?"

Roxas's face fell. "Good point." He pocketed the earrings anyway, then looked down at his stained shoes. "There's a shoe store next door; I'm going to go see if there's anything left that will fit me."

Demyx looked down at his own boots. His stomach squirmed again as he saw the blood. "Good idea. I'll join you."

* * *

"You two go do that..." Axel muttered, distracted by the diamond pendants he was holding. Eventually, he just shoved them all in his pocket and looked around, to find he was alone in the jewelry store. Well, Demyx and Roxas were in the shoe store; he could see them through the glass as he left the store he was in. But Zexion was missing in action. 

_I guess even geniuses can do incredibly stupid things sometimes...like forget we'd just agreed to stay within thirty feet of each other at all times..._

Knowing Zexion, he'd probably just wandered off for some reason known only to himself and would only be irritated by anyone coming to look for him. That made Axel pause for a few minutes and wonder if irritating Zexion was a bad thing or not.

_Thing Two might have come back looking for easier prey. And for all I know, Demyx didn't provide any ammo for the SMG either. Something tells me illusions wouldn't baffle that thing for long._

_Well, if I was Zexion, I'd be able to smell him out. Too bad Zexion is the one I'm looking for._

_Easiest route first. _ Axel stuck his head in the shoe store. "Either of you know where Zexion went?"

Roxas shrugged. "He mentioned something about looking for more mobile phones, but I don't know where he went from there."

"Great...now where would he go looking for mobile phones? I didn't see any stores that carried them..." Granted, he wouldn't necessarily notice them if he saw them. "Hey, tiger, can you sniff out where he went?" The tiger wove itself around Axel's legs and offered its head for petting. "You have no idea what I'm asking, do you...you're an excellent guard cat, but you suck at being a scenthound."

Well, maybe his nose wasn't as freakishly keen as Zexion's, but his ears, on the other hand...if he'd been able to hear the Demons' heartbeats...

_Yeah, that'll help how, trying to find someone who doesn't have a heart?_

_He still breathes, doesn't he?_

Axel sat down on the nearest bench, closed his eyes, and listened. He could easily pick out the sluggish fountain below, and the slushy, sometimes grinding ice-on-ice noises of the Hydrodragon; the slow, relaxed breathing and regular heartbeat of the tiger...he'd never realized before how loud his own breathing sounded...between them, Demyx and Roxas somehow managed to make the shoe store sound like it was full of customers...and what was that high-pitched buzzing noise? He'd never noticed it before...

Keeping his eyes closed, he stood up and followed the buzzing, somehow able to judge his position by the sound of his footsteps on the floor. He could even hear the tiger padding along behind him.

"Axel, what the hell are you doing?"

His eyes snapped open. Roxas's voice sounded unforgivably loud in his sensitive ears. "I just heard a weird buzzing noise...I was trying to track it down..." He closed his eyes again. "It's coming from right over...there..." He pointed.

Demyx sighed heavily. "Axel, you're pointing at me. Specifically, you had been pointing to my left hearing aid."

Axel opened his eyes. Yep, that was exactly where his fingertip was directed. "..." Time to start over from the beginning and ignore the buzzing noise this time. It would get him farther than asking Demyx to take off his hearing aids.

He sat down on the bench, closed his eyes, and tried again, filtering out all the ambient sounds - the fountains, the Hydrodragon, the tiger, Roxas and Demyx, his own breathing...

Very faintly, he could hear someone else breathing, soft and fast and trying to be as quiet as possible. He concentrated, trying to pick out a heartbeat associated with it.

_Whirrr clicka-click. Whirrr clicka-click._

Now that didn't sound like anything he could explain. He made his way over to where the whirring and clicking were coming from, as silently as he could possibly manage.

_Spish._

He opened his eyes and looked down. _Ew. Better get rid of those boots before I get back to Demyx and Roxas, or Demyx is gonna start spewing again._ Since it was the only way to where the sound was, he closed his eyes and kept going, reminding himself that that puddle had been a murderous Demon out for his blood.

_Whirrr clicka-click. Whirrr clicka-click._ The sound was even louder now, and so was the faint breathing - they were coming from the same direction. And since he couldn't hear anything he recognized as a heartbeat, besides the tiger's, that had to be Zexion.

Axel suddenly found himself outside a store whose broken, half-ruined sign still declared it to be IslandMobile - your somethingorother ters.

_Whirrr clicka-click. Whirrr clicka-click._ It was definitely coming from inside. The tiger snarled.

_Whirrr clicka-click click click click-click-clickclickclick screee..._

Axel ducked instinctively as something rushed past him; he got an impression of something pure black, with orange eyes and big white wings, that looked like a man but sounded like a robot.

"Eight..." Zexion's voice sounded just a little bit shaky. "Very nice to see you. I had been wondering whether that Seraph was dormant or merely waiting to strike. Just as well it decided three opponents made at least one too many." Zexion had flattened himself against the wall, next to a broken display case. He had his unopened lexicon in one hand and a plastic bag in the other. "Also just as well it didn't have any pets along, otherwise it might never have hesitated."

Axel sighed. "If you don't have at least three phones in that bag, I'm going to feed you to the tiger. Why didn't you just hide yourself?"

"Illusions are meant to trick the mind as much as anything else. The chances of them working against an angelic construct that consists more of clockwork than muscle and bone..."

"Wait a second - that thing was an angel? I thought angels didn't generally go around killing for fun..."

"That is true. However, some angels - Seraphs are especially prone to this - consider it their duty to strike down all who are not themselves servants of the Light. Rendering True Demons and mortals equally valid targets."

"Oh, great. So next time we see a robo-angel, we'll know that just because it's supposedly a good guy and we're not bothering it doesn't mean it won't try to kill us..." Axel frowned at the bloody footprints on the floor. "Yes, I was so looking forward to trudging through a big pool of demon blood again."

"Eight..." Zexion sounded a little bit irritated now. "See what that does." He pointed at a tattoo over Axel's ribs that looked rather like a winding road. Axel ran a thumb over it speculatively - and suddenly he was outside the shoe store.

"Oh. Cool, I can teleport."

* * *

After the run-in with the Seraph - and after Axel, Roxas, and Demyx all found themselves new, wearable shoes - Zexion suggested, in a more polite way than usual through his somewhat roundabout phrasing, that it was getting late and they'd all had enough excitement for the day and it was really time to return to the apartment and make sure no squatters had moved in. 

"Aren't we technically squatters?" Demyx asked, fiddling with his newly acquired shoes. Zexion glared at him. "Just asking..."

"Okay, since there's nobody here but us Nobodies - and a tiger, assuming you left the dragon outside - why don't we all settle down and let Mr. I-Know-What's-Going-On explain all our nifty new powers now, when none of our lives depend on being able to use them instantly? Start with Roxas, I guess, since he hasn't shown up any cool powers yet..."

Zexion sighed. "Eight, I'm afraid you're the only one who wears his skills on his skin."

Axel looked down at his tattooed torso. "Guess you're right about that."

Zexion opened his lexicon. "Remove your robe. And the scarf as well. I'll see what I can identify."

"Um...how much do you think I'll need to remove?"

"They should all be above the waist..."

As Zexion started inspecting Axel's tattoos and explaining their significance, Roxas and Demyx found themselves outside the conversation, without much to distract them except their ill-fitting shoes. Demyx's were too small, and Roxas's were a size and a half too big. "You know, if you hadn't thrown up on my shoes, my feet could be comfortable right now," Roxas muttered.

"Well, it all leads back to Axel not getting eaten by demons...I'd rather not think too hard about that chain of events..."

"While there's still anything in your stomach."

"So I don't like blood and death. Shut up. I know I'm a wuss."

"I suppose puking is marginally less wussy than screaming and fainting..."

"Shut up." Demyx pulled his hood up so his face was invisible, though Roxas had more than enough time to see it was turning red. "I'm going outside...to get a little fresh air..."

Roxas sighed and went to the kitchen to see if he could find anything worth eating. He'd come up with two cans of black beans, a can of tomato soup, a peach, and a couple bananas when there was a knock on the kitchen window. **Could you let me in?** Demyx signed.

**Why don't you just use the door?** Roxas replied.

Demyx looked a little sheepish under his hood. **I can't right now.**

Roxas had the window halfway open when he remembered they were on the second floor.

"'Sweet Lady Alonai', Thirteen? Sounds like you've already acquired certain angelic speech mannerisms...though your volume leaves something to be desired...moderation, for instance." Zexion was cringing and shaking his head, as though he'd been hit with something.

"Ho...ly...shit..." Axel muttered, clutching his ears and looking dazed. "Who's being eaten by what?"

Roxas gestured incoherently at the window, which Demyx was trying to force the rest of the way open. "Demyx...he...outside...not holding on...we're on the second fuckin' story!"

Axel held up a hand, as if preparing to make some wise statement. "...That made no sense."

"Well, open the window the rest of the way so I'll know I can get back in; the door locked on me when I went out..."

Axel pried the window all the way open. "Just explain to me how the hell you expected to get in the second-story window in the first place...what the hell'd you do - did you cl-...dear, sweet Kingdom Hearts on a hot dog bun..." Demyx had pushed himself away from the window and was now hovering in the air with apparently less effort than it took to tread water. "All right, Peter Pan, what the hell are you doing here and what did you do with Demyx?!"

Demyx rolled his eyes and did a backflip in midair. "Has Peter Pan's voice broken yet?"

"Good...point..._Demyx, what the hell are you doing?!_"

"He's flying. I should think that would be obvious."

Axel might have whipped around to confront Zexion, but he was too busy watching Demyx. "He's...what?" It was obvious; it just wasn't getting through his head. It was too incredible.

Zexion looked over Axel's shoulder - or around Axel's shoulder, given the height difference of over a foot. "It's a common skill for Elementalists, even those who don't specialize in Air."

"This is awesome. It's as much fun as swimming."

Roxas was still staring. "Only you would say that, Demyx."

"Well, it was the first comparison I could think of...now if everyone would be so kind as to move out of the way, I could get in." Axel and Roxas suddenly realized who, what, and where they were, and stepped back so Demyx had a clear zone to land in. For all his grace in the air, he tumbled awkwardly through the window. "...Ow."

Axel rubbed his forehead in bewilderment. "...Okay. I need to sleep on that. Maybe to make sure I'm not dreaming."

Demyx glared at him. "Tough luck. You've got first watch tonight."

* * *

AN: Whee! Demyx can fly! That should make up for some of the abuse I've heaped on him over time. 

Intended for the next chapter: The Foursome goes to the library, Axel meets vodka, and we might find out what cool powers Zexion and Roxas have that haven't shown up yet.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	5. Axel and alcohol

Axel burrowed a little deeper under the covers. He could already hear Demyx's sitar; that usually meant his alarm was due to go off in a few minutes, but in the meantime, he'd enjoy a few more minutes in bed before another day in the World that Never Was officially started... 

Wait a second. He didn't have white sheets.

Oh, right. He wasn't in the World that Never Was. He was in the Nexus. No wonder it was bright without the lights on.

"Hey, you guys missed a beautiful sunrise. Seriously. It was spectacular." Axel wasn't sure if that made it worth crawling out of bed. "Come on, it's not like we get beautiful sunrises back home." He dug his way out of the sheets and glared at Demyx. "...You don't care, do you."

"Not unless there's breakfast involved. Yesterday, when I tried to wake you up, you swore at me. How the hell are you so bright and chipper today?"

"I found coffee."

Axel raised his head from the pillow. "You have my full attention."

"Good. You wake Zexion up."

"I'm already awake..."

"Good. Axel, go wake Roxas up."

"Coffee first."

"I couldn't find any clean cups, so I hope you don't mind drinking it out of a cereal bowl...and there's orange juice...which is still in the oranges..."

Axel groaned and sat up. "I never thought I'd really miss pancakes and scrambled eggs."

"Well, all the eggs I found were rotten. Sorry if the kitchen smells a little. I opened a window..."

Zexion buried his face in his pillow. "I can smell them from here. If there are any more windows to open, I suggest you open them."

While Demyx went around opening all the windows he could - some of them were stuck tight - Axel battled the bathroom door, trying to get it to shut and stay shut. "Stupid piece of...flammable material..."

"Is that what's important to you?"

"Yes. And I'm out of insulin."

The faulty door swung open on its own once more to reveal Demyx glaring at him. "Well, lucky you. You can go back and get your pancakes and scrambled eggs after all. Once you get your blood sugar sorted, of course. Think of us, stuck here scrounging for our next meals, while you eat."

Axel grinned maliciously. "I'll enjoy it. Who knows, if you're really lucky, I might bring back a couple old biscuits for you three to fight over."

Demyx slammed the door in his face. For some reason, it stayed shut this time.

* * *

"So, you spent last night explaining what sort of awesome powers Axel had, at least to Axel...what about us?" 

Roxas looked sideways at Demyx. "You can fly; isn't that good enough?"

"Okay, then, what about Roxas? You said he's the most vulnerable out of all of us..."

"For all the most interesting thing that's happened to me so far is having you throw up on my shoes..."

"How often am I going to have to apologize for that?"

"As long as these shoes don't fit."

Zexion held up a hand. "If the two of you would cease bickering for a few moments..." Silence. "Thank you. As I mentioned last night, only in Eight's case are his skills and powers obvious at a glance." Roxas and Demyx exchanged looks - to them, it looked like Axel had walked into a tattoo parlor while drunk and asked the tattoo artist to surprise him. "In your cases, I'm afraid the best I can do is explain what wouldn't surprise me."

Demyx sighed heavily. "All right, then...what wouldn't surprise you?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were able to summon and control elementals other than water elementals. Few Elementalists dedicate themselves completely to a single element; it's unwise to rely so heavily on a single weapon. In your case, Earth and Air are the only possibilities, as Fire and Water are inherently inimical, and of the two, Air seems most likely to me. There are limits to the number of elementals you will be able to control at any one time, but you may be able to provide yourself with a small army."

"Oh," was all Demyx said. The idea of controlling another element besides the one he'd been created with - that was almost as crazy as suggesting Nobodies had hearts, at least to Roxas's mind. Demyx...when it came to hearts, you could never quite tell with Demyx.

"Thirteen..." Zexion shook his head. "There's very little I can tell you. Almost all of a Paladin's powers are geared towards combat, and as you have yet to find yourself in a combat situation in the Nexus..."

Roxas sighed. "Well, that's just dandy, isn't it. I have a big target painted on my back, and if I get into trouble, all I can do is hope Axel or Demyx is around to take care of it, because I don't have a clue what to do with myself?"

Zexion shrugged. "You are still able to summon your weapons, correct? You know how to use them. Improvise."

"Better than relying on me," Demyx muttered into a cup of rather nasty coffee. "Why am I still drinking this shit? I don't even like coffee..."

"Because between us, all we had for breakfast was a can of creamed corn, two bananas, and a candy bar, and you're so hungry you'll even try coffee?" Roxas shook his head. "This world is disgustingly short of edible food, I guess."

Demyx nodded wearily. "And Axel is back at home, enjoying himself a good, filling, normal breakfast, and probably not sparing a thought for any of us, while the three of us try to share enough food for one person while we wait for him to get back so we can get somewhere. Bastard. I hope his blood sugar is a hundred points out of whack."

Zexion raised an eyebrow. "Nine, if it's so important to you, we're not necessarily obligated to wait for his return before going about our day..."

* * *

_Lucioforo Rakanishu._

Axel carefully examined the tiny slip of paper for some clue as to what the hell "Lucioforo Rakanishu" meant, even toasting it gently in search of invisible ink. Those two meaningless words were all he found. _Well...it's probably important somehow...or was...I just wish I knew who, what, or where "Lucioforo Rakanishu" is._

Well, maybe Zexion would have some clue. And now that his insulin pump was refilled, he could safely return to the Nexus any time. It was extremely tempting to sit down and spend a few minutes of quality time playing Halo while he had the chance, but he figured it wasn't worth risking his neck - they wouldn't appreciate him making them waste half a day that could have been spent searching waiting for him to come back. Though it wasn't like the biscuits he'd filched would get cold...

"Hey, guys, I'm back!" he announced as he portaled back to the abandoned apartment they'd been using as a base of operations. There was no answer. "Uh...guys? You didn't all go back to sleep while I was out, did you?" Still nothing. Even the tiger was gone - well, it had probably disappeared when he returned to the World that Never Was. "Great...you weren't all eaten by demons, were you?" The silence rang in his sensitive ears. "This isn't funny, got it memorized?" Then he saw the note on the couch.

_VIII:_

_Copernicus Library - 2439 - Chuckwagon_

Axel wadded the note up, shoved it into his pocket, and stormed out, leaving a flaming couch behind.

"I hope you jackasses are proud of yourselves," he snarled as he shoved open the library door, followed by a newly-summoned tiger. "You almost gave me a stroke."

Demyx's face held no sympathy whatsoever. "Axel. You're finally back. How was breakfast?"

Axel sat down in the nearest chair, deflated. "It was good, overall."

"Lucky you." Demyx was carefully examining two bottles. One was full of a thick, dark liquid, the other held something pale blue that sparkled oddly. "I have no idea what this blue stuff is, and frankly, that worries me a little..."

"Sample it and see what effect it has," Zexion said from somewhere behind the rows of disheveled bookshelves.

Demyx looked less than thrilled with that idea. "If anything bad happens, it's your fault..." He removed the top from the bottle and stared at the contents in horror. "...I'm not drinking this. There is no way in hell I'm going to drink this."

"Then discard it. What about the other one?"

Axel ignored them and looked around for Roxas. _Can't imagine he's not around here somewhere... _ He listened closely - most of what he could hear was Zexion emptying bookshelves and Demyx playing with bottles of stuff, and the tiger next to him, but down on the other end of the library, he could hear...

Fighting.

He took off running.

_Holy shit this is bad that's gotta be Roxas fighting what is he fighting I hope there's not too many of them they'll kill him before I get there if they do I'm going to fucking skin them all alive..._

As it turned out, Roxas only had one opponent - a rake-thin girl with solid black eyes, charred, cracked skin, and the ragged claws he'd seen on the other two demons. They were about evenly matched when it came to skill, and Roxas had something of a size and strength advantage, but every time the girl scored with her claws, the injuries inflicted by the Keyblades healed slightly. Unless something changed quickly, she could very well outlast him in the long run. Good thing Axel was here to change things.

The tiger roared as Axel summoned his chakra. The girl turned briefly towards her new opponent, and Roxas suddenly dropped Oblivion.

"Rox - wha-"

Oathkeeper started glowing as he raised it over his head and brought it down sharply.

_Wham!_

The girl screamed and took off running, clutching an injured and very possibly broken shoulder.

Axel took a deep breath. "Guess you didn't need my help that badly after all..."

Roxas dispelled the Keyblades. "Well...it helped that you distracted her..." he said in a shaky voice. Then he fell into the nearest chair, holding his head. "I don't wanna do that again in a hurry."

Axel sat down next to him, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "First real life-or-death fight against something that wasn't a Heartless?" Roxas nodded silently. "I understand completely. I reacted more-or-less the same way after my first real fight." He felt something wet and lifted his hand. "Oh, shit, you're all cut up! You're bleeding!"

Roxas shook his head. "It's not bad. Just cuts and scratches."

"I don't think so. Come on, on your feet." Axel helped him up. "Worst-case scenario, we'll have to send you back for stitches." He raised his voice to carry across the library. "Heads up, guys!"

Demyx looked up from the bottles he was examining. "What the hell happened?"

"Some mangy little demon happened...she took off, fortunately...just not soon enough..." Axel sat Roxas down on the couch. "He's pretty beat-up."

"Oh, no..." Demyx came racing down, still clutching the bottle of black liquid he'd been looking at earlier. "Rox, why didn't you call for help, or, or something..." He handed the bottle to Roxas. "Here, drink this..." Roxas stared at it dubiously. "Come on. It's not poisonous."

Roxas removed the stopper and took a tentative drink. He immediately made a face. "It tastes like ass."

Demyx shrugged helplessly. "Drink it anyway. I think it'll help." Roxas looked even more doubtful, but he kept drinking. Axel watched carefully - those deep cuts and scratches were healing themselves a little more with each drink. Demyx smiled. "See?"

Zexion stumbled into view, balancing a heavy armload of books. "There was...some disturbance?"

Axel waved a hand airily. "It's all over and dealt with...don't drop your books or anything...by the way, does Lucioforo Rakanishu mean anything to you?"

"Lucioforo is bad Italian for 'bearer of light'. Rakanishu means nothing to me." Zexion set the books down on the table and straightened up. "Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"

"I found a note lying on my bed back at the castle..." Axel pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Zexion. "That's all it says...Lucioforo Rakanishu..."

Zexion took it and read it. "It has no significance that I can attach to it...though it must have some significance..."

Axel took the note back and stuffed it back into his pocket. "So...what next?"

Zexion took the top book of the pile and opened it, scanning the pages intently. "Research."

* * *

At first, the rest of them had tried to give Zexion a hand, searching every likely book for some mention of "Lucioforo Rakanishu", but Zexion was more efficient than the three of them put together, and one by one they got the impression they weren't really being much help. Demyx and Roxas's thin breakfast had worn off long since, and Axel was hungry by default, so eventually they all went scrounging in the rows of abandoned bars and restaurants a few blocks away. 

By now, they were all back at the library, gathered in the other end so as to not disturb Zexion - though he seemed too intent on what they were doing to notice they'd ever left, much less that they'd returned. Between them, Demyx and Roxas had found a few handfuls of strawberries and were now splitting them. Axel...had found a bottle of vodka.

"Ooh! Almost caught that one!" Demyx laughed uncontrollably as another strawberry bounced off Axel's face, leaving a red mark, and rolled under a bookshelf. Roxas had to keep his mouth full of strawberries to keep from laughing just as hard, and even then he almost spit every time Axel missed catching another one.

Axel giggled drunkenly. "One more, Demsh. Lemme try - lemme try one more. One more berry."

Demyx shook his head. "You've wasted too many strawberries already, you lush. I need to eat some too."

Axel pouted, sniffled, and turned his attention elsewhere. "Ey, Rokshash...lishen...do you...hey, lishen...you got any berriesh?"

Roxas had to choke back a guffaw. "Not that I'm going to waste on you! You haven't caught any of Demyx's yet!"

Axel sniffled again and took another drink from the bottle. "Meaniesh. Both a' ya. Jush' wan' a li'l...shtawbrerry..." He turned his back on them petulantly. "Well...I don' need ya...got it memro - memers - mer - got it?" Roxas and Demyx nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. Even the tiger seemed amused. Axel sniffed. "Ish not funny." He took another long drink, held up the half-empty vodka bottle as if subjecting it to close scientific scrutiny, and slowly toppled over backwards. Somehow, the bottle stayed upright.

Roxas eyed him warily. "I think he's finally passed out. Bet he's going to wind up with an ungodly hangover."

Demyx shook his head as he took the top off another strawberry. "Serves him right."

The very intoxicated Flurry of Dancing Flames opened his eyes and turned his head to look at him. "Oh...hi, Demysh..."

Demyx shrugged. "Or not."

Axel pulled himself to his hands and knees, still keeping the bottle rightside up. "Hey...Demysh...y'know shomethin'...I gotta tell ya...y'know...lishen...lishen, Demsh...you're really...lishen...you're really shekshy."

Roxas's jaw dropped. "Dear, sweet Kingdom Hearts. You've had _way_ too much." Demyx just stared blankly - or maybe that was in horror.

"Nonono, Roksh...lookit. Look at 'im. He'sh really shekshy. Look." Axel gestured at Demyx with the bottle, then crawled over, still on his hands and knees. Demyx looked like he wanted to cry. "Aw...Demysh...don' be shcared...ish jush' me...poor Demy. Sush a shweet guy. Jush' shcared of 'ish own shadow. Ish okay. I'll portec' ya." Axel pulled himself up on the chair and hugged the Melodious Nocturne, who was outwardly paralyzed and busily mediating an internal war between "urge to kill Axel" and "urge to kill self". "Y'know...lishen...you got really pretty eyesh..." Then he leaned over and kissed Demyx full on the lips.

That not only snapped him out of his shocked state, but firmly decided the battle in favor of "urge to kill Axel". "Get the fuck away from me! That's it! Give me that bottle, you drunken dumbass! Now get out of here!"

Axel peered up at him from his seat on the floor, rubbing his injured eye. "Ya din't hafta hit me." He suddenly got a strange look on his face, which was rapidly turning the same color as his eyes. "Uh oh...guysh...I don' feel sho good..."

In a split-second glance, Demyx and Roxas silently agreed that it was Roxas's turn to deal with the drunk. While Roxas was busy holding Axel's head over the nearest trash can and keeping his hair out of his face, Demyx took a quick drink from the bottle.

* * *

The life of a powerful demon or Hell-bound human in such a large faction as the Pirates of R'lyeh had certain detriments. Chief among them, especially among the more rowdy demons and humans, was boredom - outside from periodic raids on other factions, it was difficult to find opponents worth defeating. Most everyone they encountered was too comparatively weak to be worth the bother. So when an injured Pariah came racing in, yammering something about a powerful Nexus Champion in the library who'd lost her a fight with a Paladin, there was interest. 

When someone reported there was an Elementalist in there too, there was a little more interest.

When Gotfil took a quick look around under a spell of invisibility, and recognized the Nexus Champion as the one he'd sparred with in the mall and the Elementalist as the sneak who'd killed Smiley, there was greater interest yet, especially from Smiley.

There was a heated debate about which of the crew would be joining in on the fun this time - too many, and there wouldn't be much fun to go around. Well, there was supposed to be a fourth in there, which would help spread the fun out a little, but he was probably just some weak, hapless mortal, not much of a challenge...

* * *

AN: Thing One and Thing Two are hereby Smiley and Gotfil. Yes, the big, ugly demon Demyx turned into a puddle was named Smiley. And Roxas unleashed a little Lesser Smite on a female Pariah, and Demyx has Sense Magic and can tell all the weird potions apart. 

Planned for the next chapter: The Pirates unleash a little vengeful whoop-ass, and Zexion finally unleashes a little whoop-ass of his own. And "Lucioforo Rakanishu" might acquire some meaning.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	6. The Pirates Strike Back

"So, Axel, how's that hangover treating you?" Demyx glanced over at the redhead sprawled across the library couch while he opened a can of tomato soup.

Axel groaned softly and readjusted the ice pack on his head - a scale pilfered from Demyx's Hydrodragon. It was rapidly melting all over his face. "Fuck you."

"I think you'd have tried, if I'd let you have the opportunity, the way you were going..."

"For the love of Kingdom Hearts, cut the fuckin' bullshit..."

"I keep telling you, it's not bullshit. You really did suddenly develop the hots for me while under the influence. I'd ask Roxas to testify as a witness, but he's asleep." Demyx looked doubtfully into the open can. "I suppose I'd better eat this cold...not worth the risk, asking you to heat it up for me. Seriously, don't ever touch vodka again."

Axel snorted. "Don't have to tell me that...ugh. I feel like I got hit with a flying backhoe."

Demyx took a drink of his cold tomato soup and made a face. "Check your blood sugar yet, or are your hands too shaky to actually use a lancet?"

"Again, fuck you." Axel reached into his backpack anyway and pulled out his kit. Demyx carefully looked the other way - Axel was perennially shy about letting other people watch him dealing with his diabetes routine. "Fuck it all..."

Demyx took another drink of cold soup. "Uh oh, how bad is it?"

"It's down around fifty."

Demyx sighed heavily and offered Axel the can of soup. "Not much, but it might help." Axel shook his head and extracted a candy bar from his pocket. "...Where the hell did you get that?!"

"I found it. I've been keeping it for emergencies, dumbass. Like this." He bit off half of it at once. "Bettan passh'n ow f'm low blood suga. Keep 'a shoup. Shish'll do m'mo' good."

Demyx just stared. "...I am so jealous of that candy bar right now."

Axel swallowed hard. "Can't be. You don't have a heart." Demyx groaned. "Wait, don't tell me, you've somehow convinced yourself that you do."

Demyx flushed and glared. "Axel, you -" The conversation was brought to an abrupt halt when the lights suddenly flickered and went out. "Oh, for..." The sudden, near-total darkness was accompanied by swearing from the far end of the library. "Zexion, you're still awake? I thought you'd passed out over there."

"I have been occupied with my research," Zexion replied coldly. "Or I had been, while I still had light to read by."

Axel summoned a fire in his hand, then covered his eyes with the other. "Okay, that's bright."

"That's not bright; you're still hungover," Demyx muttered.

"Eight, the gesture is appreciated, but I don't care to risk an open flame so near to so much paper."

"Fine," Axel muttered. The fire went out.

"Which is not to say I didn't appreciate having some light." Axel shrugged and summoned another fire, and Zexion started shoving unread books into his backpack. "Assuming the power has been cut only to this building, not throughout the entire grid, I believe I shall return to the apartment to continue studying."

"Oh." Demyx shrugged. "Why don't we do that?"

Axel stared at him over the firelight. "One, I don't wanna move much further than I have to right now. Two -" he gestured at one of the large armchairs, where Roxas was curled up and sound asleep. "Rox is dead to the world, and I don't wanna be the one to wake him up. Three -" Axel turned slightly redder and lowered his voice so Zexion wouldn't hear. "I kinda burned the couch in there."

Demyx shook his head in disbelief. "Lovely...you're a fucking idiot." He drank the last of the tomato soup. "If that's the case, I might as well catch some sleep here." He launched the empty can into the trash and curled up in another large armchair. "You can have the couch as long as you don't burn it."

"Suit yourselves," Zexion said as he headed out the door. "I'll return tomorrow."

Axel shrugged, dispelled the fire, and lay back on the couch to sleep. He noticed Roxas was still glowing faintly in the darkness.

* * *

Demyx whimpered faintly in his sleep. "Please, don't do this," he begged his captors. If they responded, he didn't hear them - he couldn't hear anything; they'd destroyed his hearing aids. Now they were systematically destroying him, with his own sitar. And it didn't weigh the least bit on their consciences, because he was a Nobody, the lowest of the low, a creature that technically didn't exist.

He tried to pull himself to his feet, despite the chains, only to have his beautiful instrument come crashing down on his skull, sending him first to his knees and then facedown on the floor. He whimpered again as stars burst in front of his eyes and the world spun and distorted around him. "Please...stop..."

They didn't stop. The next blow thudded into his side, and something gave way inside and out. He gasped briefly at the dizzying pain of another broken rib, then stopped breathing as he realized what had just happened.

As he recalled the broken halves of his sitar to his hands, something else gave way where his heart used to be.

Demyx jerked awake with a scream as he fell out of the armchair. Something or someone had just killed the Hydrodragon he'd left lurking outside as a guard.

"Demyx...the hell..." A flame suddenly glowed in the darkness. Axel and Roxas were both glaring at him.

He tried to catch his breath. "Someone...outside...they're coming in...they killed the dragon..."

Axel's jaw dropped. "...Shit."

Roxas scrambled out of the chair. "Is it the demons again?"

"How the fuck should I know..." Demyx raced over to the window and looked out. "I can't see much. But...I think it's them."

Roxas took a deep breath. "So, Demyx...what sort of cool things can you summon besides another dragon? Because I think we're gonna need that 'small army' Zexion said you could come up with."

Demyx swallowed hard. Well, another Hydrodragon, that was the obvious choice...but he had no idea what sort of other things he was supposed to be able to summon. Air elementals? He knew as much about working with air as he did about captaining a nuclear submarine. After the incident with the dragon, he wasn't sure he'd even be able to summon water clones like he was used to.

Axel was peering out the window. "Wonderful. I think they're bringing zombies to the party."

_No panicking allowed. At least summon another Dragon. Then try for water clones or whatever else you can get in this world. Once you've got all of those you can support, then you can fuck around with air elementals._

A burst of slushy water roared past him, studded with sharp fragments of ice. "Well, there's one. All right, come on...dance, water, dance." All he got out of that was a little puddle, about two gallons in volume, that flowed and changed shape constantly. It did seem to prefer the shape of an ordinary water clone. But that was little consolation, considering how small it was. He was crushed.

"If it's any use in a fight, it's great," Roxas said. "Just hurry before they start breaking down the door." His Keyblades were out, and he was tensed for a fight.

Demyx took a deep breath and tried again. "Dance, water, dance..."

By the time the scratching at the door started, he'd summoned the dragon, five mini-clones, one full-sized clone that didn't seem to like holding its shape very well, three little blobs of shifting mist, and a miniature tornado. "That'll have to be good enough. They're at the door."

Axel and Roxas were already in position and ready to fight, and Axel's pet tiger snarled and paced as if it knew there was a battle at hand. "Well, I guess Zexion had great timing...if it turns out he set us up, I'm going to gut him when I catch up with him," Axel muttered.

"He wouldn't have had enough time to set us up..." Demyx dug desperately through his backpack, searching for those potions he'd found earlier. "Here...here they are..." He hauled them all out, not bothering to sort for the ones he thought would do the most good.

"What are you planning to do with those?" Axel asked.

"Pass them out and see if they do us any good..." Demyx picked up a bottle of white liquid with a sweet scent - that one had attracted his attention immediately, and not just because it was so appealing compared to some. He already had a grip on the cork, intending to drink it himself before the battle.

_Well, that would be kind of a waste. Using this on someone who can't fight worth shit._

"Hey, Roxas..." Once he had the Keyblader's attention, he hesitated for a fraction of a second before throwing the potion over, still corked. "Drink that, quick, before they get in. Axel, you drink this." He handed Axel a bottle of something phosphorescent green, then selected two bottles for himself - one full of something red that smelled like old cabbage, one full of a blue liquid with no scent he could detect. He drank the red potion first. "Kingdom Hearts, that tastes as bad as it smells..."

Axel studied the glowing dregs of his now mostly empty bottle. "This one tastes like ginger ale and Sprite. Not sure I like that. Rox, how's yours?"

"It tasted like coconut milk and vanilla. I hope that's not all it was."

"So do I..." Demyx hastily drank the blue potion - it tasted like desert rain, much better than old cabbage. As the door began to splinter, his eyes glittered with something completely foreign to him - battle light. "Bring it on, Hellboys..."

Axel stared at him in disbelief. "Demyx, was that you?!" He never got an answer, because at that moment, the door gave way completely, and the demons poured in.

"Well, mates, here be our evenin's ennertainment, wide awake and waitin' fer us...told yer that dragon were just fer starters..."

Axel took a deep breath. "Evening, ladies and gentlemen. Here for the weekly meeting of the Ugly Bastards Book Club?"

Thing Two forced his way to the front of the crowd. "Nice try, mate...that was yesterday."

"Really..." Axel nodded, then flung a flaming chakram at Thing Two's head. It was technically a clean hit, just very bloody and rather smoky. "Fixed your ugly mug, bastard."

As the fighting started in earnest, the demons' claws and weapons bit into Axel's tiger, and Demyx's various summoned elementals, but not into the three Nobodies. And thanks to the effect of the blue potion, Demyx was fighting as earnestly as any of them.

* * *

Zexion yawned and rubbed his eyes. Not only had he not found any reference, even the vaguest of mentions, to "Lucioforo Rakanishu", which he strongly suspected was a name, most of the books he'd found were utterly irrelevant. "A Treatise on Porpoise Migration in the Southern Atlantic Ocean"? "Frommer's Guide to Costa Rica"? "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"? He'd scanned them all, just in case, and occasionally picked up some useful bit of information, but nothing relevant. And two hours after midnight, he was exhausted.

He stared morosely at the pile of books he'd just read through, and not a one of them telling him what he wanted to know. _I need sleep._

He rubbed his eyes again, unwilling to give up the search without seeing some results, even the faintest snippet that might bear some relevance. _At the very least, I could return to the library and locate different books to read through tomorrow. At the very least, and then I can rest._

He was still yawning and rubbing his eyes as he locked the apartment door on his way out. _It's a very short walk...only a few blocks...get there, find more books, return, sleep..._

When he heard the shouting and gunshots, and saw the flicker of flames and lightning, all thoughts of sleep vanished.

_...The appropriate response is to return to the World that Never Was and seek reinforcements who could be of some use in a fight,_ he thought as he was already running for the library.

* * *

_We're not going to make it,_ Roxas thought. Whatever magical protection they'd had - it had to be from those potions Demyx made them all drink - had already worn off Axel and Demyx, and were starting to wear off him. Axel's tiger was long dead, as were all of Demyx's elementals barring the tornado, and all three of them were injured - and for every demon that fell or fled, another ran in with blood in its eye. _How's that for irony...send four members after one and lose three..._

Another demon - one of those large, lumbering Behemoths - came charging at him, and he raised his Keyblades to defend himself, only to find Axel had put himself between Roxas and the demon, even though he was already bleeding profusely and one arm was mostly useless. Axel always liked to taunt and insult his opponents during a fight, but now, he was completely silent. The demon snarled and slashed at him with an axe, but the intricate tattoos covering his body glowed, and the axe left a smaller wound than might have been expected. Then another demon - one of the smaller, faster Pariahs - came charging at Roxas from the other side, and he had to focus on his own private battle.

Slash, duck, parry, stab, dodge - smite - and the demon fell to the floor, minus its head, and Roxas had a few more slashes to think about. The Behemoth's axe was smoldering with dark fire now, and Axel's arm was nearly severed at the shoulder, but he kept fighting one-handed, with despair in his eyes.

Another demon, a reptilian one - dodge, strike, the demon stumbled and fell down the stairs, cursing the whole time - the tornado hissed and fizzled out, and Demyx was almost backed up against the wall, blood dripping down his face from a series of parallel cuts that obliterated his tattoo.

Pain - turn, face the one who struck him from behind - so exhausted - someone close by screamed in a too-familiar voice - stop thinking - slash, cut, dodge, repeat, until his opponent disappeared - dead or fled, it made no difference - and Axel was on the floor. The Behemoth he'd been fighting turned to Roxas.

_Oh no_ - slash, dodge, pain - _give it up_ - smite, duck, don't fall - Demyx was leaning on the wall for support, trying to keep fighting and stem the blood flow from two huge gashes in his abdomen - slash, dodge - _we can't win - we're all going to die_ - dodge - stumble - _it's over -_

And rain poured out of the ceiling, drenching the demon - except the demon shrieked as his skin started to blister and melt where it touched - it wasn't rain, it was acid...a small fist suddenly reached out and struck the demon on the arm - a laughable blow, but...the demon started bleeding - and bleeding - and bleeding...and he collapsed...

"Reinforcements would never have made it in time."

Time stopped briefly. "...Zexion?"

"Don't look at my eyes, Thirteen." Roxas looked away quickly, just as another Pariah came at him from behind. Dodge, strike, parry, slash, the demon fled - something behind him screamed in an entirely inhuman voice. He looked up - one of the reptilian demons was on the floor now. Zexion gestured - and a Pariah suddenly caught fire - but - Axel was - he was out cold - he had to be -

"Nice illusions," he croaked.

Zexion smiled grimly as a Behemoth was buried in a spontaneous avalanche of rocks. "None of this is an illusion."

"Oh..." Roxas murmured weakly as Zexion gestured again - and suddenly the demons were all trapped in the other end of the library, pounding angrily at some invisible barrier. "How...?"

"I'll explain later."

Roxas nodded and swayed - now that the fight was over, he felt so tired, so drained - Zexion caught him as he stumbled and nearly fell - he turned to thank him and noticed blood on Zexion's sleeve - "You're hurt..."

Zexion shook his head. "I'm afraid that's your blood." Roxas nodded weakly as the world went dark.

* * *

AN: When all else fails, call the Wizard, and he'll throw spells at their heads until they give up and go away.

So, Zexion used, in order, Acid Rain, the Tick's Mouth, Eyes of Doom, Burning Air, Earth Wail, and some sort of Ward Versus Evil. And he'll probably unleash more doom while Roxas is out cold.

Planned for the next chapter: Lucioforo Rakanishu? And...stuff I don't want to give away.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?

Dear Guest Reviewer: Demyx has read your review on Chapter 5 and would like you to take the yaoi goggles _off. Now._


	7. Dead Call

"...Where am I?"

"Thirteen?"

Roxas forced his eyes open. Zexion was kneeling over him, watching him intently. "Yeah...what happened? Where are we?"

"The Copernicus Museum, a block or so north of the library...can you stand?"

Roxas tried to pull himself to his feet, feeling the pull of bandages and probably stitches across his skin. Much to his surprise, he was able to stand, if unsteadily. "I...guess so."

"Good. Come with me." Zexion grabbed his hand and dragged him out from behind a folding screen and towards a door painted to blend into the wall.

"Wait...what's going on? Where's Axel?"

Zexion stopped short. He hesitated for a long moment before answering, never quite looking Roxas in the eye. "...I was...forced to leave him behind. There was nothing that could be done for him."

Roxas suddenly felt like he'd been rooted to the spot. His legs must have moved of their own accord as Zexion continued dragging him towards the door. Even when he was pushed into the little room, and Zexion quietly shut the door behind him, he was frozen with disbelief.

"Roxas?"

He snapped out of it. Demyx was lying on a makeshift cloth mattress, probably made out of priceless medieval tapestries, and wrapped in thin sheets that were probably born to protect artwork from exposure to sunlight and dust and other environmental hazards. The red stains on the sheets and the crusted blood on the side of his face made Roxas gulp. He knelt by the other Nobody's side, ignoring the pain from his own injuries. "Demyx, are you okay?"

"No," Demyx whispered, shaking his head weakly. He sighed. "Axel's gone."

Roxas squeezed his eyes shut. "I know," was all he said. He refused to let himself cry, even for the first friend he'd ever had, or at least remembered having...the one who'd taught him that just because you didn't technically exist, you didn't have to face any world alone...he couldn't really be dead...it wasn't possible...

Demyx gently touched the back of his hand. "Rox..." Roxas opened his eyes unwillingly. "I'm so sorry." There were so many things Roxas wanted to say to that - _no you're not, you don't have a heart either, you bastard, you can't possibly miss him like I do, shut up and leave me the fuck alone_ - that he didn't say anything. Demyx smiled faintly, and sadly, as if he guessed what Roxas was thinking and couldn't find it in him to be angry about it. "At least...two out of four made it out alive..."

Two out of...no. Ridiculous. Demyx was hallucinating or something. He couldn't possibly mean... "Demyx, what do you mean?"

Demyx gave his hand a comforting squeeze; his grip was as weak as a child's. "Axel's gone. And...I'm going to follow him."

Oh.

_No._

"No."

Demyx sighed, then gritted his teeth, as if the exhalation had been extremely painful. "I'm sorry...I'd rather not...there's so much I'm gonna miss..."

Roxas shook his head in denial. "No...don't talk like that...there's gotta be something..."

"Rox..." Again, a gentle pressure on his hand. "There's not. It's bad...reach in and find vital organs bad. Zex tried...everything he could think of. And I wouldn't...make it back home."

Roxas took a deep, shaky breath. "That can't be true...you can't die..." But Demyx couldn't lie to save his life - not like it would have helped here. It was true - he was dying. "I'm going to miss you two so much..."

Demyx smiled faintly. "Thanks...I'll tell Axel...when I see him again...he'll be flattered..." His eyes flickered towards the ceiling. "You know what would be cool?...If Ax and I came back as twins."

Roxas blinked, then smiled a little himself. He hadn't suspected Demyx believed in reincarnation, but he liked the thought of his two best friends coming back so close to each other...if they had to die like that, one after the other..."I wish you didn't have to die..." he choked.

Demyx squeezed his hand again; he was growing steadily weaker, and the red stains on the sheets grew a little each time he moved. "I wish too. I'll miss you. But...I'll be able to hear, next time...I know it...so don't worry too much about me..."

Roxas sighed heavily, trying not to choke on tears. "Aren't you the one who's dying? I thought I was supposed to be comforting you."

Even so close to the end, Demyx could smile at everything. "Let me assure you...this is a hell of a lot better...than dying alone...and at least...I get to say goodbye..."

_Axel never had the chance._ That one thought opened the floodgates.

_I'm never going to see him again. No more afternoons wasted playing video games, no more nonstop banter over meals that makes everyone else want to kill us - well, everyone but Demyx, but...no one waiting for me when I get back from missions just to make sure I got back all right and to hear all the details I wouldn't want to tell the Superior...no more giving him grief about his blood sugar just because it annoys him...no more chatting in sign language during meetings...no more on-the-spot sitar lessons...no more walking past the Hall of Empty Melodies and hearing it's not empty of melodies...it will be now..._

_Goodbye, life; hello, mere existence._

_And I never got to say goodbye...the last thing I said to him was "It tastes like coconut milk and vanilla" - talk about meaningless...if only I'd known..._

Demyx reached up and gently brushed the tears away. "Thank you," he whispered. "It's nice to have someone...think you're worth crying over...or is this all for Axel?" Kingdom Hearts, he'd even miss that self-deprecating smile...

"It's for both of you," Roxas answered. He swallowed hard. "Thanks for not telling me not to cry."

Demyx smiled again. "In your situation...I'd be bawling nonstop." He withdrew his hand and closed his eyes, and Roxas was afraid that was it, until he spoke again. "It was fun, wasn't it..."

Roxas nodded tearfully. "Thanks to you two."

Demyx reached over and gave his hand another gentle squeeze. "Couldn't have done it without you." Wait a second...was...no, ridiculous...was he getting...stronger?

"Demyx...are you..."

Again, that soft, sad smile. "Probably...but it hurts a little less all the time...it's not so bad..." Then...he looked surprised. His hand moved to the red stains on the sheets - probably over those huge gashes Roxas had seen earlier. "Kingdom Hearts..."

"What? What's going on?"

Demyx's smile had changed to an expression of disbelief. "I...I'm not...I don't know...but..."

Roxas's eyes widened. He tried to rub away the crusted blood from Demyx's face, trying to ignore how Demyx winced. There were no serious cuts beneath it, just a row of thin parallel scratches. "I don't believe this..."

"What?" Demyx asked earnestly.

"They're healing..."

Demyx's eyes were huge. "Rox...help me up...help me with these damn sheets..." Roxas helped him into a sitting position, and carefully tried to unwind the bloody sheets. The gaping wounds were down to long, thin cuts. Demyx looked up at him in amazement. "I...I don't...how?"

Roxas gave him a hug, ignoring how much his own injuries stung when he moved. "I don't know either, but I am so glad..."

Demyx grinned, with tears in his eyes. "Well...you're an angel, aren't you...guess your business is making miracles happen..."

"Good thing I got one for you..." All the joy suddenly seemed to drain out of the moment. "I wish I could have made one for Axel too."

"I know," Demyx whispered, suddenly grave. "He was my first real friend."

The two of them spent the next several minutes crying on each other's shoulders.

* * *

"They'd all taken Invulnerability potions er somethin'," one of the Dark Oppressors said, relaying an account of the library battle to a variously intent, indifferent, and intoxicated crowd. "That snarky Nexus Champ took Gotfil down first - right in 'is face with one o' them burnin' wheel things. Never seen aught like 'em." 

Lucky was more indifferent than anything, busily stuffing scrolls into the safe before his next trip to the library. When he finally gained the strength to change from a Pariah to a full-grown Void Walker - the canny, creepy Void Walkers had always impressed him more than the nasty, brutish Infernal Behemoths - the spells detailed on those scrolls would be of some use to him, but for now, might as well put them where someone who could use them could find them, and get them out of his way at the same time.

"It were good ol' Smiley what finally took the bastard down," the Dark Oppressor continued to expound. "We'da had the lot of 'em if not fer that damn Wizard - marches in outer nowhere and starts throwin' spells around like they be goin' outer style." Smiley the Behemoth snarled in a deep guttural. "Then, if ye please, the bastard up and throws a Major Ward in our very faces. By the time we got that broken, the rest of 'em had cleared out."

Lucky shrugged - major brawls like that weren't his style; he preferred one-on-one combat, preferably with the odds in his favor. He hadn't earned his nickname by natural luck alone - well, to be honest, it had as much to do with his real name as any remarkable fortune. He didn't even like it all that much - it sounded like a dog's name - but it was a big improvement on "Lucy". Stuffing the last scroll into the safe, he zipped up his backpack and headed off for the library, now that the fight was over and it was safe. Unusually for a demon, especially a Pariah, he was startlingly bright and a dyed-in-the-wool, read-anything-that-has-writing-on-it bookworm. Besides, being alone in the library was an improvement over staying in the stronghold and collecting those weird stares the evil Myrmidons and Eternal Soldiers had been giving him the past few days. He'd tried to get an explanation out of them, but they always just shrugged and said it was hard to explain; it was getting frustrating.

The library still showed clear evidence of the recent chaos - trails of blood on the floor, charred marks on the walls, bookshelves knocked over and in disarray, bodies on the floor - mostly demon bodies, but there was one human body left. That's what captured Lucky's attention - he hadn't been ignoring the Oppressor completely, and he wanted to see the wheel-shaped weapons the Nexus Champion had been using. He'd never heard of anything like that, but it had caught his imagination.

"Tough bastard, weren't you," he muttered to the body sprawled at the top of the stairs. Big, too - six-foot-six at the smallest, though he was skinny as any Pariah. And that red hair would have made him stand out in any crowd even if his height wasn't enough. His long trenchcoat was open, revealing not only the tattoos of a Nexus Champion but the gaping chest wound that had killed him. There was no sign of any bizarre wheel-shaped weapon, though, which Lucky found slightly disappointing.

Lucky delicately dipped a claw into the man's blood, then licked it off. For a Pariah, this was completely normal - most demons, especially Pariahs, had an inborn taste for blood. But there was something...different...about this blood. It tasted like human blood usually did, but...

_I think this guy might have had diabetes; he's not using his own insulin, I think...his blood glucose was pretty damn low, though...and there aren't any cardiac markers in circulation at all and how in Cthulhu's name do I know that?!_

He stared. Tasting blood was normal Pariah behavior. Being able to tell someone's general health and specific blood chemistry from tasting their blood was not a normal Pariah ability.

_Right. Fuck this; I'm imagining things._

But his natural curiosity wouldn't leave him alone - what if he wasn't? What if he had magically picked up the ability to taste someone's health and fitness just from their blood?

Well...he could find out...

If he was diabetic, and using artificial insulin, it had to come in somewhere - he'd either have an injection mark or an insulin pump. And the only way he wouldn't have cardiac markers - it wasn't that Lucky hadn't tasted their presence so much as he'd sensed their absence - was if he didn't have a heart in the first place. Which was insane, but easy to check in this case. Lucky took a good look at that chest wound - so huge and so open it was possible to see parts of human anatomy meant to be kept away from outside air.

He sucked in his breath. "Tholaghru's claws on a pizza crust. I guess you really don't have a heart." He started rifling through the man's pockets, coming up with nothing but a crumpled slip of paper and a hole. But under the hole...there was a mark on his skin that could easily have been left by the cannula of an insulin pump.

Now this was creepy.

"Get away from him." Lucky glanced at the door, and quickly decided that tangling with an unhappy Wizard, even a small one - well, he was still bigger than Lucky himself, but who wasn't - was a good way to ensure his luck ran out. Shoving the slip of paper into his pocket for no real reason, he ran out the door on the other end of the library. When he was halfway back to the stronghold, he took the paper out of his pocket, unfolded it - and read his own full name.

_Lucioforo Rakanishu._

_Man, I only thought it was creepy before..._

His heart should have been pounding from that discovery. But for some reason, it wasn't. It was like it wasn't even there.

* * *

The trip back to the apartment was longer than it should have been and felt longer than it was. Demyx and Roxas could both barely walk and were leaning heavily on each other, for more than just physical support. Zexion was wandering distracted, in danger of walking into trees and buildings, but not by Demyx's miraculous recovery - though he did berate himself for not realizing sooner that angels' tears had healing properties. What had him baffled was the fact that Axel's body hadn't faded after his death. 

And, of course, there was that...absence. The fire had gone out, and there was no way to light it again; and its loss only highlighted how cold and dark the world was, even under a bright tropical sun. If it weren't for Demyx, Roxas would have been the one walking into trees and buildings.

"How are you holding up?" Demyx asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Roxas murmured, as if on automatic.

Demyx shook his head. "Like hell you are. Rox..."

"I can't believe he's gone," Roxas whispered. "Not having him around...I can't see it..."

Demyx had to fight the temptation to break down and cry. "I know. Axel was...a hell of a guy. Irreplaceable."

Roxas nodded weakly. "I don't care if the new guy is the greatest angel who ever lived or what; I'd rather have Axel back. We're never going to find him anyway." Demyx could have said something about how finding the new member was what they'd been sent to do and how Axel would want them to continue - but that was trite as it got and he knew it. He remained silent and let Roxas continue. "He saved my life...that demon that killed him...it had been coming after me...but he got between me and it...even though he was already hurt..." Roxas trailed off. "He saved my life," he repeated in a barely audible voice.

Demyx gave him a comforting hug. "Well, you saved my life, so I guess he saved me too," he whispered. "I bet he's really proud of himself for that, knowing him."

Roxas sighed; it was half a sob. "Is he? Demyx, I know you can't lie to save your life - do you honestly think there's anything for us? Do Nobodies have a next life?"

Demyx was glad Zexion was completely ignoring them along with the rest of the world. "Of course we do. We may not have hearts, but we still have souls. And the soul is what carries on into the next life."

Roxas smiled, despite the tears in his eyes. "Thanks."

* * *

A soul, floating in the void above the Nexus, shapeless and formless, one of thousands ripped from their former bodies and cast adrift, waiting for a chance to return. The entire world spread out below, including the broken body that used to house it. 

It? Him.

_Do you choose to return?_

Memory...the last thing he saw...a red-skinned demon, with an axe that burned with black fire...fighting...dying...the blade in his chest...he'd been protecting...someone...

_I want to go back. I have to go back..._

Who was he protecting? Had they survived? He had to know...

_Hmm...special circumstances. A specific body is required._

Special what? Was there something special about him? Special enough to need a custom-made body, instead of taking the first available? Too late, he was already plunging back to the ground - fast - too fast -

A breath, solitary.

A pair of bright green eyes opened, taking in the dirty streets around them. He lay there, waiting patiently for the memories to come back. Sitting on the ledge of a tower, eating ice cream with a teenage boy - his brother? No...his brother died years ago...A young man, sitting on a bed, sobbing brokenly - "I just wish I could hear it," he wailed - was he deaf? Yes - yes, he was...A stern, cold man with blond hair most women would envy..."Eight, you have a condition known as type 1 diabetes mellitus," he said...

_Eight...is that my name? No, just my number..._

_My name...is...Lea? No...it's Axel._

_That was...Vexen, telling me I had diabetes. And Demyx, when he went completely deaf. And Roxas...That's who I was protecting. It was Roxas._

_I remember now._

_Where the hell am I? What happened to Roxas and Demyx - they were there fighting too; did they make it out alive? What about - Zexion? Yeah, that's his name...the little short guy with silver hair..._

He groped in his pocket for a cell phone - _when Zexion went to get these, he got trapped in the store by a crazy angel, until I chased it away_ - and dialed the first number he had stored on it.

* * *

When Demyx had first learned (or relearned) what grief was all about - the day the music he relied on finally faded completely, to be replaced by that awful dead silence - Axel had spent the night in a sleeping bag on the floor next to his bed, performing the all-important task of just being there. Now Demyx was finally returning the favor, just not to Axel. He was stretched out on the floor next to Roxas's bed, substituting a pilfered blanket and a white cotton bathrobe for a sleeping bag, and just being there because he knew Roxas needed someone there. Frankly, so did he. 

_Axel...why? We still need you..._

Now this was ironic. Zexion was fast asleep, Roxas had eventually given up and collapsed into bed, and Demyx couldn't be more wide awake with the help of amphetamines. He'd even taken his hearing aids off - partly to help himself get to sleep, partly because it seemed right that the entire world be silent for a while.

He jerked and scrambled for his cell phone when it started vibrating, only to set it down in disgust when he saw the caller ID read "Axel". It must be some random jackass who'd taken his phone and was now joke-calling every number in his address book. Creeps. Besides, he couldn't carry on a phone conversation too well without his hearing aids, and he didn't feel like putting them on for some asshole who happened to be using Axel's phone.

The cell phone vibrated again, this time with a text message. Sighing heavily - this dipshit was persistent - he looked at the message; he didn't need to hear to do that.

**Put your hearing aids on, idiot,** it read. He choked - no random stranger would know he wore hearing aids. That _was_ Axel.

* * *

AN: Death in the Nexus is generally a temporary inconvenience. Unless you're a Lich or a Revenant. Also, it's Lucioforo Rakanishu (aka Lucky)! 

Planned for the next chapter: Confoozlements on all sides. Especially mine; it's gonna be late.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	8. Side Trip

Axel stared at the cell phone. _Come on, answer the damn message..._ He had no way to know for sure whether or not there was anyone to answer the message - Demyx could be asleep, or lost his phone, or unable to answer it - or dead for good...

His phone beeped with a text message. **1 sec, goin outside to call.**

Well, that meant there was someone on the other end...with luck, it was Demyx. Without luck, it was some random ass who'd picked up his phone. All he could do was wait for someone to actually call...

When the phone rang, he pounced. "Hello? Demyx?"

There was a long pause, and the voice that finally spoke was soft and shaky. "What the hell's going on, you asshole?"

"...Well, hello to you too...are you okay?"

"Me? Forget about me - last I knew, you were dead!"

"I was...but...I...guess I'm not anymore...I don't know why not...sorry to disappoint you all..."

Demyx's voice was barely audible. "I don't believe this..."

"Yeah, death wasn't fun enough to make me want to hang around permanently. In fact, death's a pain in the ass, got it memorized?" Just in case Demyx didn't quite believe it was him - as if the reference to his hearing aids in his first message wasn't enough - "Got it memorized" ought to convince him. And if not...well, maybe it wasn't Demyx. It sure sounded like him, though...

"'Got it memorized'...all right, you're real. I mean...I..."

"I get it. I'm having trouble believing it myself...How are the other two?"

"Sleeping...good thing you picked me to call; I was the only one awake." Demyx's voice was all over the scale - sometimes unnaturally loud with shock and maybe hysteria, sometimes almost too soft to hear. "If you ever let on I told you this, I'll kill you so it sticks before he kills me, but...Roxas cried himself to sleep."

The tremor in Demyx's voice made Axel suspect Roxas wasn't the only one. "...Are you crying?" he asked.

"Crying, laughing, what the hell ever. I thought I'd never see you again, you bastard. Ten minutes ago, I knew I'd never see you again. Now here we are, talking on the damn phone." There was a definite note of hysteria there. "You're alive..."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. I..." Pause. "I..." Another, much longer pause. Axel figured Demyx had broken down completely. "...Sorry."

"Forget it...where are you guys?"

"Back at the apartment." Demyx's voice was a little steadier now. "I'm sitting on the roof, in case you can see me."

Axel looked around - in the dim light, he couldn't see much of anything, but he didn't recognize his surroundings at all. "I can't. I'm not sure where I ended up. Hell, right now, I can't even tell you which way's north."

"Oh..." Demyx started sounding hysterical again. "So...I guess you...better stay put until tomorrow...when you might actually be able to see where you're going..."

"And you probably need sleep, if you were up at this time of night. I'll call you back tomorrow. Don't get eaten by demons before then."

Demyx laughed - yup, hysterical. "What the hell harm would that do?!"

* * *

Demyx lay back on the roof of the apartment building and half-laughed, half-cried until he choked. _Sleep? Now? Yeah, right...not after that... _

Eight hours ago, I thought I'd see him again in the afterlife. Fifteen minutes ago, I thought the same thing, except I didn't expect to get there anytime soon. But...he's alive. He's not dead. At least...not anymore...

How?! I don't give a damn about why, I'm just glad he's back, but how?!

I need to think...somewhere far away from here...

He stepped over to the edge of the building, looked down, swallowed, and jumped. Ordinarily, that would have been fatal, or at least extremely painful, but instead of hitting the ground, he hovered at about the second story. Once he was sure of his stability, he soared out over the ocean, hoping to clear his head. Flying was almost as soothing and refreshing, in its own way, as swimming, and he'd be sorry to lose that power when they finally went back to the World that Never Was. On the other hand...he missed food.

Eventually, he dropped out of the air and dove in. Considering the amount of electronic equipment on him, his hearing aids not least of all, this would normally be a bad idea, but he was long in the habit of using his powers to protect them from water damage. And, being able to breathe water, he could stay down there as long as he wanted. He could even sleep underwater, if he felt like it, though he might accidentally let his hearing aids get ruined. As long as he was back to the apartment before sunrise, Roxas and Zexion wouldn't even notice he was missing. That would be easy enough; he had hours...

Well, maybe he would have, if luck had been with him. But by the time he wandered back at the crack of dawn, still pretty soaked, Roxas was wide awake and staring out the window. His bleak, terrified expression changed to rage when he saw Demyx approaching. "Uh...hi...Roxas...what's up?"

"Where the fuck did you disappear to and why?" Roxas's tone suggested it would be tough to come up with a right answer. _Shit, what the hell do I tell him?_

Demyx sighed. _The truth._ "Axel called in the middle of the night last night."

He was promptly thrown back outside, with a few new bruises and torn stitches, and accompanied by a long stream of curses. "You fucking asshole! You think that's fucking funny?! I ought to tear your goddamn head off, you bastard! You sick little piece of shit! What the fuck would you do that for?!"

Demyx stared at the closed and locked door. "But...he...really...oh, damn it..."

* * *

Roxas glared angrily at his cell phone. Axel's name was on the caller ID; this had to be a continuation of Demyx's sick joke. "Did Demyx tell you to call, fuckwad?" he snarled. 

There was a very long pause on the other end. "...Yes, he did, because apparently you threw him out of the building and locked the door on him. He'd like you to let him back in, if that's okay?"

He refused to admit how familiar the voice was. It wasn't possible. But he'd never realized Demyx had such a cruel sense of humor... "Fuck him, and fuck you too."

A long, incredulous silence. "...The hell?!"

"Get off the phone. You're not really Axel. Axel's dead, dammit!"

"Do I have to say 'Got it memorized' to get you to believe I am who I'm supposed to be?"

"Demyx told you about that."

"For the love of Kingdom Hearts, Roxas...what's it gonna take?"

Roxas tried to think of something Axel would know and Demyx definitely wouldn't. He came up blank. _Then let's try something else._ "If you're really Axel..." he asked in a soft, seductive tone, "why aren't you calling me Roxie-baby like you usually do?"

There was a very, very long pause on the other end. "...Are you really Roxas? And if you are, are you drunk? I've never called you 'Roxie-baby' in my life, and if I ever did, I think you'd kill me."

Roxas almost dropped his phone. He'd been expecting the impersonator on the other end to scramble to make up for his "mistake". "You...you really are Axel."

"Who were you expecting? King Mickey? Kingdom Hearts on a hot dog bun...what, did you think Demyx was trying to play a sick joke on you? Do you seriously think Demyx is capable of pulling a sick joke, period?"

Roxas could barely put two words together. "No...I...how...you're not...Ax, I can't..."

"Would you let Demyx in before he gets eaten by a demon? The hell was that - did you just drop the phone?" Roxas didn't hear him - he'd dropped the phone and was racing to unlock the door.

* * *

Axel cursed at his phone - way to drop a call. Well, at least he had a little time to get his bearings now. He'd spent the night in an abandoned fire department - not the most comfortable place, at least for him, but better than sleeping out in the open. Looking out at the window, he could see the ocean. Well, the apartment was near the ocean, so maybe if he followed the coast long enough...With a sun in the sky to help him get his bearings - wasn't that nice! - he could tell the coastline here ran more or less straight east-to-west, and the ocean was east of the apartment where the coast ran north-to-south, so if he went due east... 

After the coastline turned in a slow curve back west, he started to wonder if maybe he was on a different island entirely. It didn't seem big enough to encompass what he'd seen in today's meanderings and the terrain he'd grown familiar with in his last life. Kingdom Hearts, did that make for odd thoughts...At least, being a Nobody, he wouldn't run the risk of finding his own dead body somewhere - which was possibly the single most disturbing thought he'd ever had...

His cell phone rang again, and he answered, hoping this call wouldn't get dropped too. "Hi, Demyx...Roxas ever let you back in?"

"Yeah...he's kind of in shock, a little. Can't blame him. So am I - I'm walking on air."

"Literally?"

"...Uh, no. Not literally. Zexion doesn't even know yet - he must have worn himself out completely. Managed to wake him up for about five minutes for stitches and he passed right out again."

"Stitches? Stitches for what?" Axel was slightly distracted - he was getting the strangest vibes from just inland...

"Me. I managed to tear a couple out. Nothing serious...where are you?"

"Still trying to figure that out...not sure I'm even on the same island...I've just been wandering past a lot of old warehouses and a falling-down harbor..." He shouldered open the door to what looked like a falling-down slum. "Holy shit. Or unholy shit."

* * *

Demyx blinked in confusion. "What's going on? What did you find?" 

"I'm...not sure..." Axel sounded uncertain and a little awed. "This ring of stones...with carvings on them...just standing here in what I thought was a slum..."

Carved stones, in the middle of a slum? "Maybe...some urban renewal project that failed? Some kind of sculpture?"

"I don't know...I'm getting the strangest vibes from them...like...I don't think humans had anything to do with them..."

"Um..." Demyx scratched his head. Well, in this world, maybe they didn't. "Take a picture."

"Can't. This phone doesn't have a camera." Pause. "Just...the strangest...almost looks like writing on them, but...I - _aaaaaah!_"

"Axel? Axel!" Demyx stared at the phone in horror as the connection went dead.

* * *

Whatever horror Demyx might have been "feeling" was nothing compared to what Axel was going through. _Kingdom Hearts, I found the door to Hell._

He shivered uncontrollably, pulling his robe closer around him. _Isn't Hell supposed to be hot? It's so cold in here...so cold..._ Looking around at the iron walls that surrounded him, he wondered if those red stains on the walls were rust or blood.

_Well...this isn't necessarily Hell...I guess...just because it feels so ugly and rotten..._

He took a few unsteady steps towards a window - and immediately collapsed to his knees. Pain suddenly exploded in his empty chest - worse than being sliced open by that demon, even worse than having his heart torn out - as if whatever force was behind all that was wrong in the worlds had tried to get at his heart and, finding it missing, was going after his soul instead.

_Kingdom Hearts...if I die here...will I be trapped here?_

Biting through his lip, he pulled himself the last few feet to the window, ignoring the burning pain in his chest and the agonizing chill in every joint. Every stumbling footstep and gasping breath seemed to echo endlessly around the hard, ugly walls of the fortress. Dragging himself up to where he could look out, he saw the fortress was surrounded by burning firepits and boiling lava. Suddenly, the air seemed hot enough to burn even him. It was burning him - his skin was starting to blister as he watched. But - fire couldn't burn him - no fire in the worlds could hurt him...

_This really is Hell._

Desperate for an escape, he looked behind him, to where he'd suddenly appeared when he'd touched the stone. That colorful, swirling mist - a way out - maybe? He half-stumbled, half-crawled; half-dragged himself through, half-fell through the mist - and found himself in the middle of the standing stones. He staggered out, careful not to come within six inches of any of them, and retrieved the cell phone he'd dropped. It showed several missed calls, all from Demyx, so he called back.

"Hey...Demyx...sorry...call got dropped..." His voice came out as a wavering croak.

Demyx's voice was high and raw with panic. "Axel, what happened?! Why'd you scream like that?!"

"Nothing...just took...a quick side trip to Hell...I think I'm gonna be sick." He snapped the phone shut so Demyx wouldn't have to listen.

* * *

"Come on, you've been asleep for almost twelve hours straight..." 

Zexion rubbed blearily at his eyes. "Well, I had been awake for nearly thirty before that...I was in need of...a little rest..."

Roxas shook his head. "You've had 'a little' rest, I think...you'll never believe what happened."

"Try me."

"Axel called. He's still alive. Or came back to life. Something."

Zexion stared at him blankly. "...Oh..."

Roxas could have punched him. "'Oh'? Is that all?"

Zexion flopped back onto the bed. "...I need to think...for a very long time..."

"Rox? You in here?" Something in Demyx's tone said "this is important".

"Fine, do some thinking..." Roxas dragged himself out the bedroom door, feeling like he'd been run over by a steamroller. "What's up?"

Demyx was staring at his cell phone. "Something...really weird...just happened..."

Roxas sighed. "Try to explain it, as clearly as possible."

Demyx took a deep, shaky breath. "Well...I called Axel back, to ask him where he was...he couldn't tell me that - he told me he thought he was on a different island...and while we were talking, he suddenly found this ring of stones with writing on them...he was telling me about them, and suddenly he screamed and the line went dead. I tried calling him back maybe five or six times - I finally give up on that and he calls me." He gulped. "He said he'd taken...a side trip to Hell. I don't know if he was pulling my leg or if that's what really happened."

Roxas stared. "Are you still on the phone with him, or -"

Demyx shook his head. "He told me he was going to be sick and hung up. I - he sounded like he was in a lot of pain - maybe he really -"

"Not unlikely, considering the structure of these worlds."

Roxas glared back at the bedroom door. "I thought you were busy thinking."

"Thanks to Nine's information -" Zexion was still rubbing at his eyes, as if exhausted - "it came together much faster than I expected. The Nexus is four closely linked worlds in one - the lowermost world, Stygia, bears a close family resemblance to Hell. And the two central worlds - Valhalla and Purgatorio - are dying. It's not altogether unlikely that when the world itself is dying, the boundaries between death and life start to blur for its inhabitants. A return from the dead is no longer so impossible, in that situation. The ring of stones Eight found must have been a gateway into Stygia. Nine, did he say anything else about where he was? His surroundings, geography, landmarks?"

Demyx shrugged. "He said he'd found the stones in a slum. And he'd walked past a lot of old warehouses, and he mentioned something about a harbor." Roxas's mind was still boggling a little from Zexion's explanation.

"Ah..." Zexion flipped open his lexicon to a map of the world. "Harper Island. Not utterly inconvenient, assuming one has some way to travel over water."

Roxas immediately looked at Demyx. Demyx rolled his eyes. "I can carry one. Unless I'm not supposed to include myself."

* * *

Axel staggered out of the slums and back to the shoreline, feeling a little too shaky - like it was from more than being sick to his stomach. Well, he was still stiff, and he could still feel that pain in his chest...it wasn't so bad now, thankfully... 

_I need food._

He shook his head. He'd be able to find some later, once he got his bearings.

_No, I really, really need food._

Well, maybe he had something in his backpack. He collapsed onto a dilapidated bench, slid his backpack off - when had it gotten so heavy - and started sorting through it with trembling hands. He didn't find anything to eat - he should have replaced that candy bar - but he did find his blood glucose monitor.

_No! Must have food!_

Maybe his blood glucose was too high - hopefully he hadn't lost his insulin pump. That would leave him pretty well screwed. He checked quickly - it was right where it should be, and connected. And it still had some insulin left. He forced his hands to stop shaking long enough to prick a finger for a drop of blood to test.

When he saw the result, he swallowed hard and turned his insulin pump off. Then he opened his cell phone again. "Demyx...hey, sorry'f I keep buggin' you, jus' your name's on top of th' address book."

"Sorry, what? Are you okay?"

"I said, sorry if I keep buggin' ya...I'm in trouble."

Pause. "What kind of trouble?"

"Sugar trouble. Not enough, kinda sugar trouble - s' at 48. And I don' have anythin' to eat t'fix it."

Muffled cursing. "Oh, that's lovely. Well, we think we know where you are, or Zexion thinks he knows - we just have to figure out how to get there."

Axel's stomach growled like a wild animal. "Bring food. Please." Now he was faced with a dilemma. Try to scrounge for food, and use up what was left of his blood glucose at a faster rate, or sit here, conserve his blood glucose, and hope his friends arrived with food before he went into a coma or had a seizure or something? Eventually, "sit and wait" won. "I'm outside 6160 Harper...and hurry." He summoned an origami tiger and lay back on the bench, hoping that if he went to sleep, he'd wake up again in the same body.

* * *

"There's not enough time. This will have to do." 

Lucky - his daylong attempt to get everyone to call him "Lucio" or something else less retarded had yet to produce results, even from himself - watched closely as the Elementalist jumped into the air and kept rising instead of coming down. As the other two retreated back into the apartment building, he followed the airborne man, even though the little Paladin was setting off all his "enemy - kill" signals. With a Wizard along, he wouldn't have stood a chance anyway. Besides, he had better things to do than pick a fight with an angel.

Like finding the red-haired Nexus Champion, and finding out why he'd had his name on a sheet of paper in his pocket.

Racing from shadow to shadow, keeping pace with the Elementalist's shadow, was more fun anyway.

* * *

AN: Typing this up piece by piece on a borrowed laptop. There are better working conditions. Uh oh, Demyx is being followed. 

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	9. Welcome to Harper Island

Demyx barely noticed the little demon in a white hooded sweatshirt below him as he sailed over the dilapidated restaurant and the ferry dock behind it, out over the water. It wasn't like he could do anything to him, and getting Axel something to eat to bring his blood sugar back up before he went into a coma was the important part. The little demon trying to follow him didn't matter...neither did his own fatigue...he hadn't noticed before how tired he was, though...nothing he couldn't ignore...his arms were starting to burn a little...but that was it...well, his eyes really wanted to close for a while...a few seconds...he could keep them open, though...easily...

_Splush!_

Okay, maybe it did matter. Now that he'd fainted and fallen out of the sky. If he hadn't been over the water at the time, that would have been bad.

_Oh, well...if I'm too tired to fly...I can swim..._

_Or maybe...I can just rest a little...I haven't slept since the fight...that's gotta at least match Zexion's 30 hours..._

No. Resting wasn't an option, no matter how comfortable it was to float on the surface and watch the ocean floor under him. Axel needed his help as soon as possible. He tried to force himself out of the water and back into the air, but no dice - he stayed aloft for fifteen seconds before realizing he couldn't keep himself up there. He made a more gentle landing, this time.

_Okay. Swim it is. Harper Island is...just east of southeast of here...keep going that direction..._

He swam towards where Harper Island was supposed to be, grateful for the current helping him in the right direction. It had been a while since he'd gone for a really good swim...well, he'd done it yesterday...but before then, it had been a while...his arms were burning a little worse now, despite the cooling water...not so cooling; it made all his cuts and scrapes sting like crazy...and his legs were starting to burn now, too...a short rest would be so nice...

_Why in Kingdom Hearts's name did I volunteer to do this? Why couldn't I have told Roxas and Zexion to find a boat or something? There was one at the ferry dock..._

_Too late now...gotta keep going..._

Now his lungs were starting to burn, but that was easily remedied...he just let himself sink beneath the surface and breathed water instead...he should have been doing that from the start...which way was Harper Island again? _East of southeast...that was it...or was that south of southeast...can't remember...I...am...so...tired...I...can't...stop..._

_Current...let the current carry you..._

_But...it's going too far east...not southeast...it's getting rougher..._

_Can't...stop...can't...keep...going...I...can...see...it...so...close...so...close..._

But the current was carrying him in the wrong direction...out to sea instead of to the island...and he wasn't strong enough to fight...

* * *

"Why didn't you bring a damn glucagon pen?" 

"Rox, 'm sorry, slipped my mind." Axel was too nervous and anxious to rest very well, even though he knew it wasn't helping his blood glucose. He'd walked all the way back to the fire department - probably a really bad idea, but he couldn't hold the hell still...

"Where are you now?"

"Fire department...5453...Dems should see't when'e comes in..."

"Have you called him to tell you where you are now? He still thinks you're on the other end of the island."

"Tried...not ansherin'..." For some reason, words just weren't getting out right...and he felt so weak, so tired..."I'm fuckin' tired..."

"Axel...don't you dare go to sleep." Roxas was right...if he went to sleep, he might not wake up...He kept scanning the skies over the ocean, watching for anything that might be a flying person.

Well...it's Demyx...maybe he swam...what's that? Axel staggered off the bench to investigate the crumpled black shape on the beach.

"Dems...fuck...you don' look so good..." But...Roxas had said he was bringing food...Axel peeled Demyx's backpack off and tore into it with shaking hands. There...apple...can of chili...can of green beans...lime...candy bar...He grabbed the candy bar, peeled the wrapper off, and gobbled it down, barely chewing before he swallowed. "Thanks..." He returned to the cell phone he'd left lying on the bench - Roxas was probably confused as hell. "Hey, Rox...I found Dems..."

"...You found him? He didn't find you?"

"Yeah...s'lyin' on th' beach...not movin'...still breathin' okay, I guess...an' he had food with him..." There was a faint groan from the beach. "Oh...he's awake. Hi, Dems." Demyx didn't seem to hear him; he just rolled over and stared up at the sky. "Not answerin'."

"Get anything eaten yet?"

"Yeah...candy bar...din't wanna eat too much at once n' send it the other way wrong...he's tryin' t' stand up now. Wonder what he did to himself." Demyx had rolled onto his stomach, trying to push himself upright; he got halfway to his hands and knees, saw Axel, and slumped back onto the sand.

"Is he okay?" Roxas asked.

"Dunno. Gonna go check. Call you back." He stumbled back down to the beach, feeling a little steadier now. "Dems...how're ya doin'? What happened?" No answer. Demyx lay there in the sand, motionless except for the rise and fall of his chest. "Hearing aids broke?" He touched Demyx's shoulder. "Hey..."

Demyx opened his eyes and looked up at him. "Ax...found ya..." he croaked. The tiger snuffled curiously at his bedraggled hair.

"Dems? What happened?"

"Too tired...shouldn'ta come...but...'m here now...you're safe..." His eyelids wavered and closed again.

Axel looked at the tiger and shook his head. "Sheesh. Better get this poor idiot inside."

* * *

"Thirteen? Has Nine arrived at the island yet?" 

"Yes, but..." Roxas looked uncertainly at the phone, wondering if he should wait for Axel to call back or if he should call back first. "Apparently something happened to him...Axel found him lying on the beach...said he was awake but not answering, though maybe he just shorted out his hearing aids..."

Zexion obviously didn't like that answer. "Pack all the food you can find. We're going to Harper Island. If Nine was injured or lost his supplies en route, we'll be needed, and if not, it will do no harm."

"Axel said he had food with him..." Roxas sighed, went into the kitchen, and started stuffing his backpack with whatever food was available and wouldn't get squished all over the place.

Zexion sighed heavily. "Eight should not have been sent on this mission. His blood glucose situation is too precarious, and food in these worlds is too scarce."

Roxas shook his head. Axel would never accept that line of reasoning; in his mind, he was just as able to do anything and go anywhere as anyone else, even if he did have to put up with the inconveniences of insulin and blood testing. "That's about all I can hold," was all he said.

Zexion hurried him out the door. "Four blocks southwest, then directly south. There will be a ferry dock at the shore. Quickly."

They rushed down to the ferry dock, ignoring a rising wind and a gathering storm. Roxas saw a Pariah in a white hooded sweatshirt hanging around the boats, but he disappeared behind a stack of broken crates as soon as he saw them. "Wonder what he wanted," he muttered to himself.

Zexion hadn't seen the demon. "Likely unimportant, if he was unwilling to offer a fight..." He examined the few remaining boats carefully. "This one is still seaworthy, I believe. And the engine -" he pulled the cord several times, and eventually it stuttered to life. "Still operational." He glanced up at the darkening sky. "We'd better hurry."

Roxas didn't need to be told twice. He helped Zexion untie the boat and jumped in. "Know which way we're going?"

"Of course." Zexion nodded at a faint, dark line on the horizon. "There's Harper Island."

"Good." They sped out at the best pace the aged motor could manage. As the sea grew increasingly rough, Roxas felt increasingly uncomfortable - he only remembered being on a boat once, and that was on fairly smooth water, nothing like this. His stomach didn't appreciate this constant motion - really didn't appreciate it. "I don't feel too great," he murmured. _Like my face would be green if it wasn't jet black, not great. Like I'm about to be sick, not great...oh, no...now I'm gonna -_

Zexion glanced back at him. "Do be so kind as to put your head over the side." For the next little while, Roxas was in no position to notice they were being followed.

* * *

There wasn't much funnier than a seasick angel, Lucky decided. Though he hadn't been so fortunate as to find a boat with an operational outboard motor; he'd been obligated to row across to Harper Island, which wasn't a barrel of laughs in and of itself. His arms were pretty damn tired by the time he finally sneaked into the dock behind the pharmacy. As he tied up the boat in the rain, he glanced around, trying to figure out which way the Wizard and Paladin went. That was the same Wizard he'd seen at the library - he must have been the one who broke up the fight, and he had to have some connection to the Nexus Champion. A gang of four, three mortals and an angel, without a faction - and what on or off the Nexus do they want me for? 

The two of them were heading up the beach, and not at the fastest of paces - the Paladin was still a little less than steady. It was a cinch to follow them all the way to the abandoned fire department. Getting in once they locked the door behind them...not so much.

Well, the Pirate stronghold was in an abandoned factory, like the one next door to the fire station. It seemed like as good a place as any to wait out the storm. Gave off vaguely familiar vibes.

* * *

Axel poked Demyx lightly. "Come on, you asshole, wake up..." It wasn't that he seemed badly hurt or desperately ill or anything, he just wasn't waking up for love or munny. Axel was grateful to him for bringing the food he needed to stay alive, but he could have not knocked himself out in the process... 

He glared at the door as someone knocked. "Whoever you are, you'd better have a very good reason for wanting in here..."

"Axel? Is that you?"

"...Roxas?" Axel raced downstairs and flung the door open. Roxas was standing there, looking a little worse for the wear, but large as life, and Zexion was only a little behind him. "What are you doing here?!"

"We wanted to make sure you and Demyx would be okay..." Roxas said. He grabbed Axel by the collar and pulled him in close. "Next time you go back for more insulin, don't you fucking dare come back without a glucagon pen and some rescue foods, got it fucking memorized?...I am so damn glad you're alive...I thought I'd never see you again..."

Axel couldn't help but give him a hug. "Hate to break it to ya, but you can't get rid of me that easily...I'm worse than a cold." He beckoned them both into the fire station and out of the rain. "Demyx is okay, I guess...just can't get him to wake up. He's sleeping upstairs. How are you? You look a little rough."

"He didn't take well to the water portion of our journey," Zexion said dryly, rubbing a towel over his hair.

Axel looked sympathetically at Roxas. "Aw, man, you get seasick too?"

"I'd rather not talk about that..." Roxas handed Axel his loaded backpack. "There's more food in there, in case you need it." He went upstairs, followed by Zexion, and Axel and his guard tiger as soon as he figured out where they went. "It's not so bad up here...downstairs, it was a little drafty."

Zexion was examining Demyx, who was lying on one of the few intact beds - probably on the whole island, not just the fire station. "His vital signs are stable enough, and there are no signs of further physical injury, though he is slightly hypothermic...he must have simply collapsed from exhaustion."

Axel peeled a blanket off one of the broken beds, checking to make sure it was still fit to use. "This might help him warm up a little," he said, draping it over Demyx. The Melodious Nocturne groaned and stirred slightly. "Well, hey - fine time to wake up; you're still in time for the big reunion."

"Re- uh...whaa? Where am I?" Demyx murmured weakly.

"You made it to Harper Island, though I'm not sure I'd use the word 'safely'...lucky for all of us, you washed up onshore right where I was looking. You okay? You've been out for a couple hours. You scared Roxas and Zexion into coming after you. What happened?"

Demyx shrugged. "Just...tried to go too far on not enough sleep...wore myself out...I just need some rest...how're you?"

"Stable. Which is better than I was when you washed up on the beach. Mr. Driftwood." Demyx nodded, rolled over, and went back to sleep. "...Well. Driftwood is right, I guess; he's about that lively." He heard a noise behind him - Zexion was digging through Demyx's backpack, removing all the food Axel hadn't already eaten and leaving it out on a table. "Hey - with all those potions he had stored in there, is there one that might give him a little energy back?"

Zexion shrugged. "Only he can tell what they are. It must be his rapport with aqueous solutions in general. The only ones I can identify are half a bottle of vodka and a bottle of tequila."

"Maybe pour a little tequila down his throat...what?"

* * *

Roxas was too wound up to sleep well. He kept waking up, tossing and turning for a while, then going back to sleep, but never for long. He couldn't figure it out - _did I accidentally take in a lot of caffeine or something? Or am I just edgy?_

Almost involuntarily, he glanced over to where Axel was stretched out on the floor. Yup, still there. _Maybe I'm just stunned._

He wrapped up in the blanket again and started to drift off to sleep. Wait - was that the door? Opening and closing? He crept downstairs, and shone a light through the huge garage, but he was the only one there. _Maybe I'm just paranoid._ He shook his head and crept back upstairs, settling down again.

_Wait. I don't think I imagined that. Someone's pounding on the door._ He crept back downstairs - there were two long shadows being cast across the floor, blocking the light from the street lamp, though he couldn't see anything. He froze, knowing he should go back and wake up someone else but not completely sure it was worth it...

He was still standing on the lowest stair when the door finally came off its hinges. The last thing he heard was a gunshot.

* * *

AN: Aaaah! Roxas! Noooo! (snickers) I love a good cliffhanger.

Originally, Demyx was going to get involved in some sort of midair squabble - possibly a tailchase involving a flying demon, an angel, or another Elementalist. Then I went "You know, Demyx hasn't slept since the fight..."

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	10. Dipso Demyx

"Aeleus, don't -" Too late. Ienzo's closest friend had already followed the other four researchers into the darkness, and he was left alone in the laboratory, shaking with horror - but stricken with an urgent desire to know what was on the other side. No - he knew in his dream, as he hadn't in reality - the others had lost their hearts to the darkness, and as soon as he followed, his would be lost as well and he'd transform from the human Ienzo to the Nobody Zexion...

So, instead of giving in to temptation and entering the darkness himself, he just - stood there. If he didn't repeat their mistakes - his mistake - he'd be safe -

But - their hands reached out from the dark void - Xehanort's dark hands next to Even's sun-deprived ones - Braig's, lean and scarred, and Dilan's, rough and callused - Aeleus's, easily twice the size of his own - all grabbing at him, dragging him in, forcing him to join them in the darkness - _This was your idea,_ they said..._this was your fault...you deserve to join us..._

_I never wanted this,_ he pleaded silently. _I'm so sorry...I didn't think it would come to this..._ But he couldn't escape their relentless grasps, and he was inevitably dragged into the darkness - and his heart was torn away...

_Blam!_

Zexion jerked awake and instinctively sniffed the air. Volcanic ash and woodsmoke - Eight - ocean breezes, with an undertone of something fishy - Nine - wild and gamy - the tiger - silver, pears - Thirteen - too faint, it should be stronger - some very clean scent, like lavender, but too clean, almost artificial - something a little like copper, some unknown metal - not unknown, it smelled like the Seraph - blood - iron - gunpowder -

Eight was already on his feet, chakra in hand, glancing around wildly. Nine, who'd recovered from his apparent collapse, was wide awake and sitting up. Thirteen was nowhere in sight.

That wasn't a good sign.

"What's going on? What happened?" Nine asked, his voice high with false fear - it must have been a game to the Neophytes, keeping up the pretense of emotions constantly. Zexion forced himself to forget the terror he'd felt in his dream - it had seemed so much like real terror at the time, despite his not having a heart...

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." With that, Eight slid down the long pole connecting the upper floor to the lower level - impetuous as usual, but he and Thirteen had always been surprisingly close for a pair of Nobodies. Nine stood up hesitantly - his normal behavior was more conducive to survival, but his innate cowardice could get him into as much trouble as Eight's tendency to charge into every situation with weapons out.

Zexion's hands were suddenly encased in ice. Proceeding with caution was the better way. Besides, all these new spells were intriguing...

* * *

Pain...agonizing...like someone had punched a hole in his shoulder... 

"- charge into every situation with weapons drawn -"

Voice...a woman's...unfamiliar...he blinked...floating lights?

"- can't even tell a Paladin from a Pariah? You, sir, need your vision checked - attacking a fellow angel -"

The lights were floating around him...the pain was starting to go away. Was he dying?

"- thrown you out of the faction if he'd died - are you even listening to me?"

What was going on? Who was talking?

"Maybe wait for the Judgemasters - Judgemasters can tell good from evil, even if -"

_"What the fuck's going on here?!"_ Axel? He sounded pissed... Roxas tried to force his eyes to focus around the half-dozen floating lights spinning around him. Axel was standing next to the fire pole, watching warily as a...well, it was big, and round, and looked like it was made out of ivory and blue fire, and it seemed to have a mind of its own, because it was definitely hovering around Axel. It looked almost like he was being confronted by a giant blue chakram. The room was filled with man-sized marble statues wielding swords made of light, devoid of facial features - no, they had to be robots of some sort; they were jointed, and light was seeping out through the joints. And standing in front of the door were two figures - a winged man with blacker skin than his own, white hair, and glowing orange eyes - holding a pistol - and the most breathtakingly beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

_Those must be angels._

The winged man raised his pistol and pointed it at Axel, but the woman forced his arm down. "Apologies. Just my overzealous friend here," she explained. "No injuries were inflicted that the Aethersprites can't heal."

Axel didn't take well to that answer. "The answer should have been 'no injuries were inflicted', period, got it memorized?"

"Eight..." Roxas could feel Zexion's footsteps on the stairs. Actually, the steps were starting to press painfully on his backbone; he sat up slightly and was a little surprised to discover he could. "If you're eager for combat, you know where to find the Pirates of R'lyeh. No doubt they would be more than pleased to oblige." Zexion looked curiously at the floating lights. "So these are Aethersprites. I wondered what they looked like up close."

Roxas looked up at Zexion. "Wow...talk about cold hands..." Zexion glared briefly, but the layer of ice coating his hands disappeared. The Aethersprites swirled around him once more, then drifted back to the female angel; Roxas tried to sit up a little further and discovered his shoulder didn't hurt at all now. Neither did anything else. "...That's impressive."

Axel still wasn't impressed. "So what were you two doing here, besides shooting up helpless angels?"

The male angel actually spoke for once. "Demon-hunting."

Axel looked around. "Nope. No demons here. So why doesn't everyone go back to bed before someone else gets hurt."

There were more footsteps on the stairs. "Uh...hey, guys...what's going on down here?" Demyx asked warily.

"Nothing. Go back to bed," Axel muttered. "Or it better be nothing."

"It is nothing." The female angel took her companion's arm and led him away, the Aethersprites, robots, and giant blue chakram following. "We'd better return to the stronghold...before you shoot Ilian Krathaos or something..."

* * *

_Yes, that was an absolutely brilliant performance. Stellar. Exactly what we've all come to expect of you. _

Coward. They could have all been killed before you'd shifted your wussy ass one inch. It's only sheer dumb luck that it wasn't anything really serious. Emphasis on dumb.

Why do they even keep you around? It's not like you're good for anything...except maybe the odd laugh...

Demyx sighed and stared out the window - sleepless once again, while his friends were all resting peacefully. _Why is it so easy to remind myself of everything I do wrong and so hard to remind myself I've ever done anything right?_ He took another drink of tequila. _Especially at 2:00 in the morning?_

He stared at the bottle in his hand. _Why am I drinking this? It can't be helping..._

_I think it was because I wanted to sleep._

Axel's tiger looked up as he stumbled towards the stairs - he must have had more to drink than he'd thought - but Axel himself didn't so much as twitch; neither did Roxas or Zexion. That was all to the good; he didn't especially want to be missed or followed. Besides - his grip on the bottle tightened - who'd miss him anyway? He was only so much useless baggage...doubly so in an actual crisis... He took another drink on his way out the door. He was a drain on the entire Organization - why the hell did they keep him around?

_What did Roxas say to me...? Why can't I remember...? Just because I'm as smart as I am brave?_

Demyx set the bottle down on the pavement and stood up straight, albeit a little unsteadily. "I have no heart. This means I cannot feel any sort of emotions at all," he announced to the brick wall of the abandoned factory. "I cannot feel terror. I cannot feel fear. I cannot even feel anxiety...so why am I still such a _fucking COWARD?!_" he screamed, slamming his fist into the wall.

That sobered him up a little. "_Ow_fuckthathurt..."

"Maybe next time, you shouldn't do that. Though maybe the tequila made it seem like a good idea."

Demyx glared at the little Pariah in the white hooded sweatshirt. "Oh, fuck you," he mumbled, stuffing his injured hand under his other arm. He suspected he'd broken a finger.

The Pariah held up his clawed hands. "I was just saying. Hey, do you know why your red-headed friend might have been looking for me?"

Demyx just stared blankly at him. "I dunno. Ask Axel. Who are ya, anyway?" He sat down next to the bottle and took another drink. "Hell, you're a demon, aintcha? Why aintcha pickin' a fight?"

The demon shrugged. "Don't feel like it? You're drunk? You'd kick my ass? By the way, my name's Lucioforo Rakanishu. More commonly known as Lucky, though I confess I'm not acutely fond of that name."

"Kick your ass - ha." Demyx laughed humorlessly and took another drink. "Couldn' kick a bug's ass."

The Pariah - Lucky? Better than that other impossible name - looked at him sideways. "Are the insects particularly vicious where you come from?"

Demyx blinked. For some reason, the words went right over his head. "What?"

Lucky might have rolled his eyes, but they were all the same color - no whites, no pupils, or maybe they were all pupil. "Never mind. So the redhead's name is Axel?"

Demyx nodded as the world started to spin slowly around him. "Uh huh." He lay back on the wet pavement and hiccuped softly, watching the stars revolve overhead.

Lucky sighed. "Well, next time you talk to him, hopefully not until after you sober up, tell him I'm next door."

Demyx nodded distantly - wow, the sky was fascinating. He stared up at it, watching it spin and continuing to drink tequila, until suddenly his view was blocked by a tattooed face with bright green eyes and bright red hair. "There you are, you idiot. You scared the hell out of me. Wow, you're tanked - you smell like a Mexican distillery."

Demyx hiccuped. "Hi...who're you?"

The redhead rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I should leave you lying drunk in the street for that..." He helped Demyx into a sitting position. "I'm Axel, you little inebriate. Hey - no more tequila. You've had enough. Leave the bottle alone." He looked down at Demyx's hand. "What'd you do to your hand - get in a boxing match with a wall?"

Demyx hiccuped again and shrugged. "I dunno." Suddenly, he remembered why that name sounded familiar. "Uh...Asshel...Lucky wanted'a talk t'ya."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Great. Who's Lucky? You can't be talking about Luxord..."

"Li'l demon kid...nesh' door..." Demyx might have said more, except his stomach suddenly had to get rid of some of that tequila _right now_, and he vomited all over himself.

"Aw, fuck...Demyx...did you have to do that?" Axel shook his head again and gingerly tried to unzip Demyx's robe. "Don't think you want to be wearing that anymore; it's got spew all over it...you even got it all over your pants..." He extracted Demyx from his ruined robe and set it on fire, then helped him to his feet. "Come on, Dipso Demyx. Better get you inside before you upchuck all over yourself again."

* * *

Demyx blinked and immediately wished he hadn't - Kingdom Hearts, that was bright! And, ugh...boy, did he not feel well...especially his...well, his whole body. Maybe his left hand in particular.

Ugh...where am I? What the hell happened? Why can't I hear anything?

That last was easily answered - he reached up and discovered his hearing aids were gone. He groaned involuntarily. _Kingdom Hearts...I hope I didn't just lose them...I must have been absolutely wasted..._

_I'm in bed...but it's not my bed...I have blue sheets..._ He sat up, trying to get his bearings. The first thing he noticed was the large, empty bucket next to the bed, which was good, because his stomach really hadn't appreciated that sudden motion. The bucket kept him occupied for the next few minutes.

Once his stomach finished venting its displeasure and his dinner from last night, Demyx realized he was only wearing a T-shirt and boxers. _Shit...where the hell did my clothes go? Where are my hearing aids?_

Suddenly, someone moved in front of that hideously bright window. He opened his eyes a little more. **Axel says he's sorry about your clothes,** Roxas signed.

_Axel?...My clothes?..._ Demyx suddenly needed the bucket again. When he looked up again, Roxas was cringing. **Good thing you didn't get your underwear too...Axel didn't think you'd want your old clothes back after you threw up all over them. He was going to get you some new ones when he went to refill his insulin pump.**

Demyx tried to sign a response, until he noticed his left hand was bandaged and someone had taped a couple pencils to his little finger, holding it straight. "Dammit," he muttered. "Where are my hearing aids?"

Roxas handed them over and waited for him to put them on one-handed. "Axel took them off you after you passed out," he said quietly. "Said it would help your hangover if you couldn't hear anything. What happened to your hand?"

"Don't remember," Demyx mumbled. "I must have made a complete fool of myself..."

"Not so much. Axel was worse."

"Oh...that's...some relief...wake me up tomorrow." Demyx pulled the covers back over his head.

* * *

Without any powerful mortals lurking in the library two blocks away, it was now safe for lesser demons and mortals to wander out and satisfy their bookish tendencies, but the more powerful among them were starting to get bored and edgy again. After the fifth crew member had been assaulted for daring to shut the door too loudly, it was unanimously decided that what the Pirates of R'lyeh needed was a good raid to work off their aggression. 

As the retarded ship's cat (who'd never been on a real ship in his life) wandered across the table, drooling on the maps, the leaders debated well into the night about which enemy faction to raid. Not a rival evil faction - the crew needed the enjoyment that only came from the slaughter of angels. And preferably a Valhalla-based faction, as not all the crew had the magical protections needed to survive in Paradise. And a faction that hadn't been raided in a while, and wouldn't be too wary. Preferably a fairly large faction, to provide enough fun to go around, but one numbering fewer than the Pirates, to improve their chances.

As the sun broke over the horizon, they settled on the Alliance of St. Germaine - the dominant faction on Harper Island. The call was sent out to all Pirates, in Paradise, Purgatorio, Valhalla, or Stygia, that the raid was scheduled for that afternoon, when the fewest Alliance members would be defending their stronghold.

The one Pirate already on Harper Island had a sudden sense of impending doom.

* * *

AN: Drunk!Demyx, or Dipso Demyx, as Axel calls him. Thar ya be. 

Planned for the next chapter: Mayhem, violence, demon pirates, even another (temporary) character death. Guess who. (I've already picked who and even how, and it's not likely any of you are going to change my mind.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	11. Lucioforo Rakanishu

"So, Demyx, how's that hangover treating you?"

Demyx groaned and rolled over to look at Axel. "I've been better."

"Between the two of you, you've scared me off alcohol for life," Roxas said.

Zexion looked up from his writing. "Thirteen, did it take you that long?"

"With these two bad examples? It's amazing I've ever learned anything."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Rox. I pretend love you too."

"Great, you two can be pretend gay for each other."

"Demyx, why don't you try being pretend smart for a while? Shutting up would be a good starting point." Instead of coming up with a smart remark of his own, Demyx took his hearing aids off. Axel rolled his eyes again. **What are you doing?** he signed.

"Making you seem smarter. At least to me. Don't sign anything, you'll ruin the illusion."

**Would you put your hearing aids back on!**

Demyx pouted. "You ruined it." He put his hearing aids back on anyway, shaking his head. "I need some fresh air. I've been in here too long." He didn't remember a thing about meeting Lucky last night; he just felt a need to put some actual clothes on and stretch his legs. "I'll come back in fifteen minutes or so - sober."

He wandered down the block towards the hospital, not really paying attention to his surroundings. The first thing he actually noticed was a chunk of broken marble and gold - like one of those statue-robots the angels had had with them. Then another one. Then a chunk of ivory that looked like it had been broken from a large wheel.

This can't be good. He followed the trail of broken marble and ivory on past the hospital. Along the way he started seeing individual white feathers, then several feathers at a time, then clumps of feathers with skin and blood, then an entire white wing as long as he was tall.

When he found the dismembered bodies of the two angels, he threw up what little was left in his stomach, then ran all the way back to the fire station.

He ran straight through the door - and straight into Axel, knocking them both to the floor. "Demyx - the hell -"

"The angels - that came in here last night - they're both dead - I found them -" Demyx babbled, halfway to panic. "They'd been torn to pieces - I saw them -"

"Whoa. Okay. Try it again, slower." Axel hauled both of them back to their feet. "You found and saw what?"

"The angels that were here last night - they're both dead - something tore them apart -"

Axel stared at him. "Okay, that's not good."

Zexion peered downstairs. "Nine, are you certain -"

"It was a little hard to mistake!"

Zexion shook his head. "Whether or no. I suspect it's high time we left Harper Island and returned to the mainland." Demyx could only nod weakly.

* * *

"Okay...is it just me, or do we seem to have run right into the middle of a pirate invasion?" 

Demyx swallowed hard. "I think we're screwed."

Axel rubbed his forehead. "Since it's you saying that, I'm worried." The four of them were hiding behind the local power plant, hoping no one came looking anywhere near them. "How much further would it be to the boat docks?"

"Further than we've gone so far," Zexion murmured. "And no doubt the docks are the main point of entry for the invading force."

"I wondered why there were more of - oh, hell." Axel sighed. "Guess we stay put until we're found or they go away?"

"Or we could try to fight our way out," Roxas said doubtfully.

"Dying wasn't much fun the first time and I don't want to do it again, got it memorized?" Axel suddenly held up a hand for silence. "Shh. Something's coming..." All four of them held completely still as something huge scraped past the dumpster that was concealing them. Not one of them dared to breathe until the scraping sound died away and disappeared. Demyx sighed with relief.

Whatever it was heard him. A gigantic demon with huge knots of muscle and a barbed tail suddenly shoved the dumpster aside, exposing them to the rest of the invading demons. They scattered like startled doves. Roxas bolted back in the direction of the relatively safe fire station, only to find his path blocked by the behemoth who'd moved the dumpster. He swallowed hard and summoned his Keyblades, hoping the end wouldn't be too painful or messy.

"Hey - dibs! Go pick on someone more your caliber! Look, there's a Seraph over there -" As the behemoth looked and lumbered away towards a more challenging opponent, his place was taken by a small Pariah in a white hooded sweatshirt. A familiar white hooded sweatshirt.

"You've been following us all the way from the mainland!" Roxas accused him, swinging both Keyblades at once.

The Pariah dodged the blow easily, but didn't try to land one himself. "I had a good reason - I've been looking for Axel."

"_What?!_ Why in Kingdom Hearts's name would you be looking for Axel?!"

The demon neatly dodged the swinging Keyblades again, still not attempting an attack of his own. "Pretty simple. I wanna know why he's looking for me. Now, if you'd stop swinging those things at me for a second so we could actually have a conversation -"

* * *

It didn't take long for Demyx to take to the air and summon his landbound elementals to do the fighting for him. What he really wanted to do was get the hell away from there and not come back until the fighting was over - but it was too easy to remember those two dismembered angels and see Axel and Roxas instead. In the air, he was at least relatively safe - he had to do what he could to help his friends - though he knew he should be down there fighting with them... 

But his little water clones and air elementals started getting taken apart by vaguely canine creatures that seemed to be made of burning charcoal. The green-scaled, crimson-eyed demon who controlled them spotted Demyx hanging in the air and lifted off on leathery, batlike wings. Demyx didn't even have time to summon more clones before he was forced to turn tail and flee towards the ocean. He had a significant head start, but the demon put on a quick burst of speed - by the time they flew across the shore and out over the ocean, Demyx could hear his wings flapping, and a quick glance revealed he was almost close enough grab his ankle. At that, he panicked and dropped into the water, where he bobbed up and down, watching his pursuer.

The demon circled overhead angrily - and apparently exhausted. "Stay there as long as you like - I can wait - " he hissed down at Demyx. Demyx could have stayed there all day, but he didn't need to know that.

_I can't stay here all day - not while my friends are still fighting..._ Demyx closed his eyes and concentrated.

The demon shrieked as the blood started to boil under his skin. His wings folded; he plunged into the water - and didn't come back up.

Demyx felt much more than a little sick as he stroked back to shore. _I had to do it...but I wish I didn't..._

* * *

Axel had found himself fighting side by side with a group of angels, who seemed to welcome his help. There were five of them, including him, standing out in front of the hardware store, taking out any demon who came too close, or their pets - the Hellhounds attacking Demyx's elementals didn't last too long once Axel started bouncing chakra off them. It wasn't as though fire was going to hurt him - only Hellfire itself was hot enough. Their master would have been welcome to join the party for a few brief moments, but he, she, or it never showed. 

"Impressive weapons," one of the angels commented.

"Thanks. My own design." Two quick flicks of the wrist tore apart the wings of a demon about to take off in pursuit of a wounded angel. The chakra bounced off the wall behind her and back to Axel's hands, taking some of the demon's face along.

"They seem to work well for you." Conversation ceased as they returned to the task at hand - killing demons. Axel was starting to wear out - he wished he could go inside and hide, maybe long enough for a nap, but - he'd never backed out of a fight before, not against anything.

_Except - keep going too long, I might just drop where I stand..._

"Axel!"

That was Roxas, with a little Pariah in a white sweatshirt - but - they weren't fighting? What gave? "Rox? What's up?"

The Pariah waved. "You must be Axel - I understand you're looking for me? I'm Lucioforo Rakanishu -"

"Dammit, I almost forgot about that -" Axel ducked around to the other side of the hardware store. "Please don't kill that Pariah, I wanna talk to him..." A little further from the din of battle, Axel had the chance to listen carefully to the Pariah's - Lucioforo's - heartbeat.

He didn't have one. Axel's Nobody-sense started tingling.

"Shit! You must be the guy we're looking for! Why the hell didn't I think of that earlier - why didn't Zexion think of that; he's supposed to be the brains of the outfit -"

Lucioforo blinked his solid black eyes. "...I must be missing something."

* * *

Demyx had found himself a new fighting position - directly over Zexion's head. The two of them were in a narrow alley between two houses - well, Demyx was hovering over it, but no matter - and the demons passing by, or trying to get at Zexion, were variously met by lethal spells or elementals. About half of them lived long enough to seek easier prey. Any demon, or the occasional fellow Elementalist who'd chosen to fight with the demons, who took to the air after Demyx met a quick spray of acid from Zexion's SMG - Demyx had no idea how he'd set it up to spray acid instead of bullets, but he wasn't curious enough to waste time asking. And just in case Zexion's spellcasting seemed to waver, Demyx had a few spells of his own to throw. _Wish I'd realized that earlier._

Where were Axel and Roxas? Demyx floated a little higher over the battlefield, trying to catch a glimpse of his other friends. He didn't see either of them, but he almost missed it when his little tornado pet suddenly took one hit too many and fizzled out. Aw - crap - As he tried to resummon it, two demons came down the alley after Zexion - a man whose skin shimmered and changed color like a chameleon's, and a woman who might have been the picture of ideal beauty if she hadn't radiated pure evil. As a new tornado hissed into life with the crackle of lightning, the man reeled and staggered from a single blow of Zexion's small fist - and the woman leaned forward and bit Zexion's shoulder. As Demyx came in closer, the man was cut apart by a storm of razors - but the woman leaned in again, and laid a single finger on Zexion's chest - and Zexion started screaming - and screaming - and screaming -

"Get the fuck away from him!" Without really thinking about what he was doing, Demyx dove down behind the woman and wrapped his hands around her throat, ignoring the pain from his broken finger. She tried to punch him, or scratch him - but his arms were longer than hers; he kept his body out of reach. She tried to twist her head around and bite him - but she couldn't come close enough. She tried to break away, cast some sort of spell - but by then, the air was gone from her lungs, and no more was coming in. Even after she stopped struggling and went completely limp, Demyx refused to release his grip for several minutes.

_Dear...sweet...Kingdom...Hearts...what have I done?_ He dropped the body and backed away in horror, gagging violently - there was nothing left in his stomach to bring up. _I just...killed her...with my bare hands..._

An agonized whine from the end of the alley snapped him out of it - Zexion was lying on the ground, literally writhing in agony from - whatever the woman had done to him. Demyx gulped and ran to the Schemer's side, but Zexion was in too much pain to even recognize him; he gouged desperately at Demyx's face with his fingernails. "Zexion - stop - please - it's me - Demyx -"

Zexion tried to focus on him, gasping for breath. "...Nine...?"

Demyx nodded. "It's me - the demons are gone - you'll be okay..." He stopped as Zexion shrieked and convulsed again. "What's wrong - what'd she do to you?"

"Poison - curse - can't help - noth- nothing will - aaa_aaaah!_" Zexion clutched at Demyx's robe, tearing clean through it. A little blood trickled out of his mouth - he must have bitten through his tongue. "Run -"

Demyx glanced quickly behind him. Another demon had heard the commotion and come to investigate - one of the behemoths, looking for easy prey. Prey didn't come much easier than someone weakened by defiling poison and wracked by a Dark Oppressor's curse, and all that stood between him and this choice target was...well, Demyx. Demyx, whose usual first response to danger was running for it. Demyx, the most useless fighter in the Organization and he knew it. Demyx, approximately the last person you'd want between you and a singularly unpleasant death.

You would think.

_I'm really going to regret this later..._ Demyx smiled nastily at the demon and summoned his sitar. "You're not getting anywhere near him." He played a few carefully selected notes, and the demon stumbled, with water coming out of his mouth and nose. "You like that?"

* * *

"Right - we need to find Demyx and Zexion and get the hell outta here as soon as we can -" 

"Slow down for a second - who's we? Am I included? If so, where the hell are we going? What the hell's going on?"

Axel took a deep breath and started counting down on his fingers. "One, it's a damn long story. Two, I'm not the best person to explain it. Three, we're in the middle of a battlefield, which isn't a good place to explain anything, barring maybe 'I hate you, now die'."

Lucioforo - soon enough, he'd get a new name, with an X in it - ran his claws through his close-cropped, dark red hair. "I dunno my way around Harper Island all that well, but I'd say - the other end of the island, where the invasion is not coming from, is our best chance of getting anywhere without getting cut apart."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Technically, they're your allies. You shouldn't be in as much trouble as we are."

"One question. Let's say they see me standing here fraternizing with an angel and a mortal who fraternizes with angels. What do you think their first reaction will be? Things may look different from your perspective, but my first guess is they'll call me a traitor and kill me."

"...I guess you have a point." The three of them made their way carefully around the edge of the battlefield, towards the relative safety of the Porto del Diablo. Axel kept glancing around nervously. "What? We're not being followed..."

Axel shook his head. "That's what's got me worried, Rox. I haven't seen Zexion or Demyx since we got split up."

Lucioforo shrugged. "An Elementalist and a Wizard - can't they shift for themselves for a few minutes without coming to grief?"

"You don't know Demyx. You two go find somewhere safe to hide out until I get back; Rox, you have my phone number; if you two pick a fight with each other before I get back, I'll kill any survivors, got it memorized?" Axel left the two of them standing there as he made his way back to the fighting.

Lucioforo scratched his head. "I have never heard the phrase 'got it memorized' used in that context before. Or any context, actually."

Roxas shrugged. "You're going to. A lot."

* * *

Demyx had long since stopped thinking about the larger battle going on around them. All he cared about was each demon as it tried to come down the alley, and stopping it from getting past him to Zexion. If he'd been alone in the alley, he'd have fled long since, but Zexion didn't have that option - he was helpless, in agony, and easy prey if Demyx chose to save his own neck. He just couldn't let that happen to anyone, especially a friend. 

_You're not fighting a hundred demons. You're only fighting one - they can only come down the alley one at a time. You just have to do it a hundred times..._ And it was easy enough to fill their lungs with water, or to make the blood boil in their veins, as long as he only thought about keeping himself and Zexion safe, and not about the fact that he was killing living creatures - maybe it was only a twisted sort of half-life, but so was his own...but as long as he didn't think about the fact that he was standing there busily ending lives, his biggest problem was exhaustion. Which was starting to be a substantial problem...

But now he'd been tensed and at the ready for a good five minutes, and no more demons had poked their snouts down the alley during that time. Demyx finally unsummoned his sitar and let himself rest for a few seconds, still wary in case any were hoping to catch him with his guard down. "Zexion - how are you holding out?" No answer, not even a faint groan. "Zexion?"

Demyx turned around to check on the Cloaked Schemer, and swallowed hard. "Zexion?" The silver-haired Nobody's face was no longer contorted in pain, and his body wasn't all twisted up like it had been, which might have been a good thing, but...

_But...he's not breathing..._

Demyx knelt next to the body and sobbed uncontrollably. _I tried so hard to save him...but he died anyway...I couldn't do it..._

_I tried so hard...but I still failed...Zexion, I'm so sorry...I wanted to save you...I'm just not good enough..._

Eventually, after a few minutes or a few hours of weeping, he realized he had to get out of there and rejoin Axel and Roxas soon. He stood up shakily - and there was a faint twanging noise behind him, from the entrance to the alley - and a sudden sharp pain in his lower back - and it felt like his whole body below that point just...disappeared...

He fell across Zexion's body, unable to keep standing on legs that didn't want to obey him anymore, that he couldn't even feel were there anymore. Reaching behind him, he found an arrow lodged in his back at the point where all sensation ended, slick with blood and some clear substance he really didn't want to know what was. He turned his upper body to look behind him - the entrance to the alley was crowded with some half-a-dozen demons with a variety of bows, firearms, and other ranged weapons. Overhead were another three demons, all of them with high-powered rifles, cutting off any hope of escape by air.

Demyx swallowed hard and summoned his sitar, with almost the last of his strength. _At least I know it's not really the end...it just looks an awful lot like it..._

* * *

AN: Arg. Cliffhangered again. Defiler Poison plus Agony Curse equals painful, almost inevitable death equals poor Zexion. 

However, the next chapter is already partially written, mostly because this chapter had been a good 30 percent longer and I chopped off the last two sections and started a new chapter with them instead.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	12. Stick Around

_Okay, just randomly looking around isn't getting me anywhere..._ Axel glared down at his origami tiger - his second of the day; the first had been killed in front of the hardware store. "I wish I could ask you to sniff them out, but you've never smelled Demyx or Zexion before in your life, have you." The tiger growled and lashed its tail, as if answering him. "Fine..." He closed his eyes and tried to pick out any useful sounds from over the din of battle. _Like hell this is gonna work..._

He could hear the leathery snapping of demon wings, and the softer whispering noise of angel wings...the faint mechanical sounds of the Seraphs, and the Lightspeakers' pets...the crackling growls of Hellhounds and the inhumanly high cackle of imps...the thuds and whistles and cries and shouts of battle...sitar music...wait a damn second. There was only one person who'd even consider playing sitar while there was a battle on. He listened intently to the faint, hesitant notes, trying to figure out where they were coming from...coming from...that direction. He took off running towards the rows of houses from which the music originated. _That's Demyx found, at least..._

The sight of three winged demons hovering over a particular alley lent him speed. _Shit, they must have him trapped down there..._ As soon as he was close enough, he flung a chakram, neatly shearing a wing off the closest demon. She plummeted, screaming, and the tiger bounded ahead, through a crack that seemed far too narrow and into the alley where she fell. The next demon in line simply ignited, and the third demon caught the other chakram in the gut. Axel quickly recalled his weapons to his hands as he ran around to the front of the row of houses, and a way into the alley, only to find the entrance blocked by four more demons.

_Well. Life just got a little more interesting._ Axel took a deep breath, forcing all the air into his lungs he could and swelling his narrow chest out to almost ridiculous proportions. When his lungs just wouldn't expand anymore, he exhaled, breathing fire over the clustered demons. Three of them fled, trailing flames; the fourth simply combusted where he stood. "Serves you, bastards," Axel muttered as he slipped into the alley. The tiger, its muzzle now deep crimson with demon blood, was standing protectively over Demyx, who was sitting on the ground with his sitar in his hands and his legs folded in a strange position. "There you are."

"Axel?" Demyx whispered in disbelief. "Is it really you, or am I seeing things?"

"If it looks like me, sounds like me, acts like me, and likes fire, it's probably me, got it memorized? Can you stand?"

Demyx shook his head. "I can't feel my legs."

Axel gulped, then bowed his head. "Kingdom Hearts...why you?" Demyx blinked, almost uncomprehendingly. "Never mind...do you know where Zexion is?"

Demyx sighed. "Right behind me..." The tiger was already snuffling curiously at silver-blue hair.

Axel suddenly found himself about forty feet away from where he had been, kneeling next to Demyx and Zexion. "Shit..."

"I tried to save him. I really did. But he died anyway..."

"Shh. I don't doubt it for a second. I know you would." Axel ran a finger over the deep, bloody scratches on Demyx's face - they couldn't have been left by a Pariah; a Pariah would have torn his face off. "What did that to you?"

"He did. He was...he was in a lot of pain...he didn't recognize me, at first..." Demyx sobbed quietly.

Axel sighed, trying to blink back tears that kept puffing away as steam. "We'd better get you someplace safe," he whispered, picking Demyx up in a way that wouldn't jostle the arrow lodged in his spine and ignoring the fact that his friend weighed at least as much as he did. "I'm sorry. If I'd known..."

"I know." Demyx sighed and closed his eyes. Axel kept a careful eye on him to make sure he kept breathing.

* * *

Lucioforo leaned over Roxas's shoulder, not an easy task as he was the shorter of the two. "Not good news?" 

Roxas bit his lip and shook his head as he read the text message Axel had sent him. **Z down. D at hosp with AOSG. Looks bad.** "Couldn't get much worse." Zexion, dead? And Demyx in bad shape... "Excuse me for a second. I gotta call him back." He slid around to the other side of the warehouse and dialed Axel's number.

"Are you two okay?" Axel asked as soon as he picked up the phone.

"Yes - but what happened to Demyx and Zexion?"

Axel sighed. "A gang of demons had them pinned down in an alley. Demyx got shot in the back - he might never walk again. And...Zexion..." He sighed again. "He was already gone by the time I got there."

Roxas cursed. "At least death isn't permanent in this world...just a second - would you stop whistling!"

Lucioforo blinked in surprise. "O...kay...I guess I can do that for you..."

"Please. I hate that song." Roxas turned back to the phone. "Sorry."

"I'm going to be so glad to get out of this world...it's been kicking our asses left, right, and center...except we have to wait until Zexion catches up with us again..."

"Send him a text message telling him to just go home when he wakes up..."

Pause. "That was a little cold."

"I know. I'm sorry. It's hard to be quite as upset when you know he's coming back."

"Do you not have one kind thought to send to his poor little soul sitting in the void waiting to be reincarnated? In case you didn't get it memorized the first time, death isn't fun, even when it's only temporary."

Roxas sighed. "It's thanks to him that I don't know that firsthand," he murmured.

"There's a start. You owe him."

"I know. I - _stop whistling!_ Sorry, Lucioforo seems to have this thing for whistling 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' all the time, and it's getting on my nerves."

"Saix will cure him. I gotta go check on Demyx. See what the prognosis is and all that. Later."

"Later." Roxas snapped the phone closed. "One down, one disabled...I don't bel- _sonofa-_!" He dropped the phone and immediately summoned his Keyblades as a chameleon-skinned Void Walker came strolling through the wall of the warehouse.

"Dude. Put those away before someone gets hurt." The Void Walker looked Lucioforo up and down. "I hope you're the new guy. Name's Xigbar."

Lucioforo stuck out a clawed hand. "I'm confused as hell, but my given name is Lucioforo Rakanishu. Also known as Lucky, for no particular reason."

"Xigbar, what the hell are you doing here?"

Xigbar sighed heavily; it was kind of an odd effect, as his current form was only dubiously corporeal. "Protocol demands investigation of all on-the-job fatalities, kid. The Superior just sent the first three people he saw - I think Lex and Xan are still fighting with the door." There was a sudden cracking, tearing sound from the other side of the warehouse. "Scratch that. Lex got it."

Roxas blinked in confusion. "Why didn't you send anyone to check it out when Axel died?"

Xigbar just stared. "...Because he's not dead?"

"...He's not anymore...but he was for a while..."

Xigbar continued to stare blankly for a few moments, then rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Shit. This is one of _those_ worlds."

* * *

"Ah...he's starting to come around...good afternoon." 

The woman's voice was too pleasant...too friendly...he didn't deserve to have anyone be friendly to him... "Leave me alone..."

"...That's rather an odd request..." Softer, and a little doubtful. To someone else: "Yes, I think it would be a good idea..." Good idea to what?

"Demyx? You awake?"

He recognized that voice... "Axel, go away..."

Silence. "O...kay..." Axel sounded a little hurt...well, he'd be hurt worse if he stuck around longer. Demyx buried his face in his pillow - maybe he could smother himself quietly before anyone noticed. No such luck - he could still breathe just fine. "That's not him," Axel said sadly. "That's just not like him."

_Of course it's not like him. He doesn't kill. It is like me, though._

_Who am I? Half a person with half a body and half a brain and half a soul and no heart and no guts and eighty percent of his senses. That's not much. Not enough to be worth keeping half-alive._

_I should have died. He shouldn't have saved me._ "You shouldn't have saved me."

"Demyx..." Axel's voice was pleading now. "Don't say that."

_But...so much death...and for nothing...why shouldn't I have joined them? Death would be better than this... _He sighed and wept silently into the pillow, wishing the nightmarish sensation of just _ending_ at the waist really was just a nightmare. He'd even take permanent death...maybe, if he died, he'd be able to choose not to come back...to just stay dead...

There was a very warm hand on his bare shoulder. "I'm so sorry. You're already deaf; you didn't need this shit..."

"No." _I deserve this. Maybe that's why I survived - so I could suffer like I deserved...so many of them...I killed them...I killed all of them...and for what? Zexion's dead, and I'm a murderer...half a murderer...there's only half of me left..._

Axel sighed. "What am I not getting here? What am I missing?" Demyx said nothing, just continued to cry silently. "Kingdom Hearts...why can't I get through anymore?"

"Not your fault," Demyx murmured. "It's my fault..."

"What's your fault? It's not your fault Zexion died...you did the best you could...and don't you dare say it just wasn't good enough. I talked to Sarai and she said that unless there'd been an angel healer right there, right then, there wasn't a damn thing anyone could have done. And it's not because you were a coward, either. A coward wouldn't have stood there and kept fighting until he just couldn't stand anymore. You've never been a coward and I don't know where you got that idea." Bald-faced lies on Axel's part, but Demyx couldn't bring himself to argue. "I think your body count was actually higher than mine - oh..." Axel hesitated as Demyx started sobbing louder. "Sorry. I can't stop putting my foot in it, can I?"

"I just wanna die, Ax." Demyx whispered. "I wanna die and not come back." He turned his head to the side and saw little puffs of steam rolling out from under Axel's eyes. _Lovely; I've managed to make him cry...he should have left when I asked him to..._ Demyx closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness. _Well...it's all I am and all I'll ever be...especially now...so why not?...I'm sorry I made you cry, though..._

Axel tightened his grip on his shoulder, forcing his eyes to open briefly. The darkness clung to the edges of his vision, slowly growing and obscuring the little hospital room. "Dammit, you little bastard, you're not allowed to die!"

"Why not?" Demyx asked dully. He expected Axel to come up with some trite answer, like "You've got a lot to live for"...he'd probably choke on "Like what?", though..._give it up...just let me go...I want to go...  
_

"I wanna hear you play at least one more time."

Demyx sighed. "...I can't." _Ever again._ The darkness seemed twice as inviting now; it seemed to be pulling him in, offering him a rest from all this guilt and grief and this ruined physical form, even as what was left of his strength started to bleed away. "Gotta sit up to play...Ax..." Now he just couldn't keep his eyes open. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...but it's better this way...it really is...tell Roxas I said goodbye..." _I should have died after the fight in the library...or back there in the alley...it would have been so much easier then..._

"The hell it is. The hell I will. You fucking jackass," Axel croaked - his choked voice didn't match his angry words. "You're cutting yourself up because you got torn to pieces inside and out trying to save Zexion when you couldn't, and now you're gonna do the exact same thing to me."

Demyx tried to force his eyes open for a few seconds. "What?"

Axel leaned over and whispered directly into his ear, or at least into his hearing aid. "The fight you put up in that alley - that was one of the greatest acts of courage I've ever heard of, let alone seen the aftermath of. But if you give up and let yourself die right now, it'll be the most cowardly stunt you've ever pulled."

"...What?" The darkness didn't seem quite as alluring as it had a second ago.

"You're Demyx. You don't ever give up. Remember, even when you thought you'd never hear again, you kept playing - even composing. Knowing you, if you stuck it out, you'd figure out a way to walk again."

Demyx shook his head weakly. "How?"

Axel shrugged. "I don't know. We'll have to find out. But even if there isn't, I'm sure you'll get a kick out of wheeling circles around Roxas and me, and teleporting down all those huge, long staircases the rest of us will still have to walk down."

Demyx chuckled slightly at the image, then gasped in disbelief as sensation suddenly started to trickle back into his lower body. "Thank you," the woman said - she had to be an angel. "Healing magic can't work on someone who's trying to will himself to death. It's a good thing you were here to talk him out of it."

"I kinda like having him around," Axel said, turning red and cracking a faint smile despite the tears in his eyes. "Besides, I owed him one."

* * *

"You know, it feels a little more than a little ridiculous to just - stand around here while there's a fight on. But maybe that's just me." 

Well, Lucioforo had a point. Five Nobodies standing around in an empty lot seemed like a good setup for a joke, not a particularly good way for any of them to spend their time. Which was probably why Roxas wasn't as hesitant to pick a fight as he should have been. "That's because we're still three short. Once we're all together, we can go home. If you wander away and get yourself killed, frankly, I'd be happy to leave you here. We've had to put up with enough on your behalf."

Lucioforo ignored his last two sentences. "Which leads me to another couple questions. First, where_ is _'home' to you guys? You look like a fairly normal local mixed bag, though your average mixed bag wouldn't include both angels and demons. But none of you actually belong to a faction. And normally, if anybody in this world has anything that could be called a home, it's their faction stronghold, something none of you have. Second, who the fuck are you people and what the hell do you want me for?"

The other four all looked at each other, then at Xigbar, who was the most senior of them. He sighed. "We are representatives of Organization XIV, hopefully soon to be Organization XV, on a recruitment mission."

Lucioforo stuck his hands in his pockets. "Awesome. Now put that in a context I might understand completely. What I understand so far is that there's fourteen of you and you're trying to recruit me. What is this Organization organized around? What is your purpose? And why are you trying to recruit me specifically?"

Xigbar took a deep breath. "First, I'm telling you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; just remember that, dude...We're Nobodies. And so are you."

"...Something tells me that you don't use the word 'Nobody' to mean the same thing I usually use it to mean."

Xigbar shook his head. "The way we use it, a Nobody is someone who doesn't have a heart."

Lucioforo's face twisted into all sorts of strange expressions. "...Oh."

"Meaning you also don't have a heart."

Lucioforo immediately put a hand to his chest, to check for himself. His distressed look deepened when he came up without a pulse. "...I thought hearts were kind of optional accessories for demons anyhow," he croaked.

Xigbar raised an eyebrow. "That so, dude?"

"Not really, no...up until about three days ago, I thought not having a heart was just plain incompatible with life in general. How does one go about losing their heart and surviving the process?"

_Three days ago?_ Roxas thought. _That was about when Axel died...he must have found the body or something and checked for himself... _He was suddenly inexplicably angry. "It usually involves being attacked by something called a Heartless," Xigbar was explaining.

Lucioforo looked thoughtful. "Are they about yea high, black all over, with yellow eyes, antennae, and swarming tendencies?"

Xigbar nodded. "That's a pretty good description of a Shadow Heartless, yeah."

"...Well, if that's all it takes, you should have more recruits than just me, because some parts of the Purgatorio are crawling with 'em."

* * *

A soul, floating in the void above the Nexus, shapeless and formless, one of thousands ripped from their former bodies and cast adrift, waiting for a chance to return. The entire world spread out below, including the broken body that used to house it. Him. 

_Do you choose to return?_

Memory...pain, the worst pain he'd ever felt, like every drop of blood in his body had been replaced with white-hot molten metal...like he was burning alive and being torn apart from the inside out at the same time...and the last person he'd have ever chosen to rely on in a fight ignored the command to run, and defended him instead of saving himself...why?

He held off answering the Voice until his thoughts and memories were in order, and he remembered who'd made the surprise decision. _I suppose, had it been anyone but Nine, I would find it less surprising..._

_Yes. I choose to return._ And a few moments later, the time for thinking was over, as he started to plunge back to the world below, faster and faster - too fast -

A breath, solitary.

A pair of silver-blue eyes opened, taking in the dirty streets around them. He didn't need to wait for his memories to come back - his patience in the void had paid off. So when he looked up and saw an utter void where some sort of sky should have been, he understood why almost immediately.

Zexion hauled himself to his feet, wincing at the painful effects of the demon's lingering poison - no match for the hellish torture of the poison compounded by an Agony Curse, but he forced that thought from his mind as soon as possible. _So this is the Purgatorio,_ he thought as he searched his first aid kit for the bottle of antidote he knew was in there. _This complicates matters a little..._

* * *

AN: Man, Zessy, if only you knew. 

All characters have a chance to respawn in Valhalla/St. Germaine after they die, but neutral characters might also respawn in the Purgatorio. And Defiler Poison - but not Agony Curse - lingers after death, but without the effects of Agony Curse, it can be cured with a First Aid Kit. Also: Wow! I didn't kill Demyx!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	13. Interesting

The angel healer Sarai leaned down so her face was level with Demyx's. "All right, raise your hand if you hear anything - you'll be listening for a beep." Demyx, seated at a little table with headphones on his ears and his hearing aids in front of him, nodded as if he'd heard her speak. Axel wondered for a second - _no. If he could really hear her, and wasn't just reading her lips, he'd be flipping out left, right, and center, not sitting down calmly._ He leaned back against the wall, running his fingers through his hair - _ugh, what the hell is that shit? I really, really wanna wash my hair now..._

Three minutes later, Sarai shook her head and gestured for Demyx to take the headphones off. He hadn't raised his hand even once. They all sighed in concert. "I'd hoped...I had to try, at least."

"At least I'm used to this," Demyx murmured as he replaced his hearing aids. "Not walking would have taken getting used to. At least that worked."

_Yeah, sorta...once you stopped trying to force yourself to die..._ Axel took a deep breath and scratched his head, wondering how he was going to ask his next question. "So...um..."

"Before you ask, I'd never tried to restore hearing to the profoundly deaf before, but I have tried to restore the pancreatic function of a brittle diabetic." One eyebrow quirked over a literally fiery eye. "It didn't work then either. If you were to arrive on our doorstep in insulin shock or a ketoacidotic coma, I would be able to keep you alive until your blood glucose was straightened out, but I can't cure diabetes." Axel just stared bleakly. "To an Advocate, yes, you do have 'brittle diabetic' written across your forehead."

"Great. I was wondering if someone had tattooed it there while I was asleep." Now Demyx raised his hand. "You little -"

"I'm just messing with you. I didn't really." Axel sighed with relief. "Roxas did. Not really! No one wrote anything on your face!"

Axel ran for the nearest bathroom with a mirror anyway. There was nothing on his face except the tattoos he already knew about. By the time he returned to the testing room, Demyx was on his feet, albeit unsteadily. "You jackass..."

"I did tell you no one wrote anything on your face..." Demyx took a few halting steps towards the door. "That always seems like it should hurt, but it doesn't. I dunno if that's good or bad."

"You're on your feet. Therefore, it's good. Need a hand?" Axel asked as they made there way out to the hallway.

"No thanks...I think I'll make it..."

"I sure as hell hope so." _After you did your damnedest to_ not...

"It's really not that hard once you get the hang of it..." Demyx suddenly stuck a hand in his pocket, nearly sending himself off-balance. He caught himself on the wall as he pulled out his cell phone. "Lovely, I have a magic cell phone. I keep getting messages from the beyond."

"That would be Zexion, I guess?" Demyx nodded and opened his phone to read the text message. Then he held it up for Axel to read, as tears started to cloud his eyes.

**Thank you.**

Demyx swallowed. "I could use a hand. I wanna get back to my room before I try calling him back."

* * *

Lucioforo wished he had a book along. Even a newspaper, though he'd almost never bothered with newspapers before; he always considered them useless clutter. 

_Then again, there's always the "sit back and think things over" idea. As long as I stop once my brain starts threatening to explode._

Just because of the yellow-eyed creatures that had mobbed him in the Forgotten City - Heartless, they were called - he, Lucioforo Rakanishu, Pariah, aspiring Void Walker, freebooter and cannonfodder of the Pirates of R'lyeh, painful clawed death to most lesser angels who got caught in the Copernicus Library, and dedicated bookhound - no longer had a heart. Even a weird, distorted, half-functional little demon heart. Apparently, most people would have just died when that happened, or been mutated into some weird form - a Lesser Nobody, like the Sniper Xigbar showed him. It took someone truly extraordinary to keep their original form and memories when they lost their heart.

Which meant he was somehow truly extraordinary - extraordinary enough for this Organization to send some of its not-very-many members here, from another world that had fuck-all to do with the Nexus or the Nexal War, to find him and offer him a chance to get his heart back. Flattering. If only he knew just_ how_ he was supposed to be truly extraordinary.

Did that giant ever talk? Or the girl with feathers in her hair? For all he knew, trying to initiate conversation would be a deadly insult.

And on top of everything else, he was going to get a new name - an anagram of his old name, with an X in it somewhere.

_Well, if I'm technically not the same person, I guess..._He dug a piece of chalk out of his pocket and wrote down the most basic arrangement. Lucioforox.

_Bleh. _ He erased it, thought, and tried again. Cofilourox. Reminded him too much of "cauliflower". He erased that too. Locifoxuro. Better, but he wasn't too hot on it. Rufolociox. Meh. Sounded like some kind of medication. Foriuxocol. Hmm.

"Foriuxocol," he said to himself, pronouncing the "x" as "sh". "I could live with that."

A cell phone rang, but it wasn't his - his ringtone was "In the Hall of the Mountain King", not "King Nothing". The Paladin - what the hell was his name, anyway? - picked it up. "Hey, Ax...great. Where is he?...Well, call him back...Oh. Speaking of which...how is he?" He listened to the answer and sighed. "Coulda been worse...Kingdom Hearts. Are you...damn. I'd never have expected that from him...I hope so!...I know. Huh?...In - Purgatorio? Hang on..." He looked up at Lucioforo. "What did you say about the Purgatorio earlier?"

"Parts of it are covered in Heartless. Is this a big concern?"

"...Yeah." The Paladin turned back to the phone. "Tell him to stay where the hell he is...the place is full of Heartless. I don't know; I'm not in charge...It's a long story. When I catch up to you, I don't think I'll need to explain it. Later." He snapped the phone shut. "Zexion is alive, and somewhere in the Purgatorio. Demyx is also alive, and barely able to walk by himself. Where do we go from here?"

* * *

"What's going on? What's all the riot about?" 

"A second wave," Sarai muttered as she slammed Demyx's window shut. "They couldn't get through our Stronghold ward, so they're trying to boost their casualty rate by killing off the wounded in the hospital. I'll be back as soon as it's secure." She drew the curtains, turned out the lights, and left, closing and locking the door and leaving Demyx alone in the dimly lit hospital room.

_Lovely. Someone up there has it in for me. _ He sighed. _The way life's been going, I can almost guarantee something is going to come bursting in through the door or break the window and try to eat me. Or at least crack my chest open and be disappointed I have no heart to tear out and eat. It's not like I'm gonna be able to run away..._

"Dance, water, dance." Half the room was suddenly full of ice and water. _Eat dragon._

A few minutes passed. Then a few more. He lay on the bed, wondering what the hell was going on - he couldn't hear anything from outside, but was that because there was nothing to hear or because his hearing aids just weren't picking it up? He didn't quite dare look out the window, first because it was five feet away and second because he didn't care to reveal himself as a target...

A few more minutes passed, and something started pounding on the window. Demyx swallowed hard, sat up, and summoned his sitar. _At least I might be able to do something more useful than scream...it'll probably be all cut up from the glass anyhow...it's not totally hopeless..._

The window shattered, and something hit the floor with a resounding thud that made his fingers slip off the strings. He blinked, in the brighter light coming in through the demolished curtains, and saw one of the reptilian hellhound-mongers lying on the floor with an arrow in the base of its skull.

_I owe whoever shot that thing. _He dragged himself over to the window and looked out, careful about the broken glass. The fighting seemed to be mostly over, with angels and humans wearing various faction emblems chasing away the remaining demons. There was one figure in a dark robe, firing arrows at the retreating Pirates, who seemed to have black-and-green hair...

He grinned. _Awesome. Reinforcements._

Something started pounding at the door, and he slid to the ground, keeping a grip on his sitar, just in case. "Would you unlock the damn door already!"

Demyx could have laughed. "Sorry, Ax...can't quite get there from here...guess you'll have to burn the door down..."

Pause. "I have a better idea. Hey, Xigbar...could you..."

* * *

Axel could remember being this miserable in his life. Every time he'd ever been on a boat, for instance. _ I'm not sure this isn't worse than Hell,_ he thought as he vomited over the ferry rail. Demyx was shaking his head - he'd taken his hearing aids out just so he wouldn't have to listen to Axel retching and heaving. Axel glared at him. Too busy clinging to the rail to sign, he said, "Just because you've never been seasick a day in your life, you..._bleuhh_!" He was rudely interrupted by his own stomach. "Think it's funny, don't you?" 

**I think it's sad.** Axel could only nod weakly in agreement before he threw up. ** The new guy thinks it's funny, though he -** Demyx paused while Axel leaned over the rail again. **Though he thought it was funnier while Roxas was in on it. ** Roxas was curled up next to Demyx, senseless as a brick. He had been standing there leaning over the rail with Axel, until Xanrivash finally clapped a hand over his mouth and nose and did something to him that made him pass out - probably doped him with some sort of knockout gas, but at least it stopped him hurling. She'd tried to do the same thing to Axel, but he couldn't stop puking long enough for it to take effect, and Xanrivash thought one handful of vomit was more than enough, thanks kindly.

"This is bound to come as a relief to you - we're almost there," she said - one of the first things she'd said all day; she usually talked as little as she could get away with, to hide her accent. She was perched on top of the wheelhouse, studiously not looking in Axel's direction.

"Finally -" Axel willed his stomach to stop heaving long enough for him to teleport to the dock. He was still lying flat on the ground, enjoying the sensation of not having it moving around under him, when the ferry actually docked. "I swear, I'm never gonna get on a boat again..."

"You say that every time you get off a boat," Demyx said from somewhere overhead. Since walking was still so difficult for him, he got around by air or water as much as he could. Now he was finding Axel's predicament funny. "You're hopeless."

"You're the waterboy, not me. Besides, you start puking pretty much every time you get in a serious fight."

Demyx half-smiled. "I usually wait until after the fight. Besides, you're_ completely _useless on a boat."

Axel couldn't find it in him to spit out a snarky comeback. Instead, he muttered something meant to be incomprehensible and stood up shakily. "Where's Roxas?"

"Lex has him...he's still dead to the world."

Axel rubbed his forehead as the Silent Hero came down the gangplank, carrying Roxas's limp form. "Next time we have to do this, I wanna be knocked out _before_ I get on the boat." While Demyx muttered something about Axel turning green before they left the Harper Island dock, Lucioforo slid down the gangplank, Xanrivash jumped straight from the deck to the dock, and Xigbar actually walked through the side of the boat. "Shut it, flyboy. Do you still have that vodka? I wanna wash my mouth out..."

"Not with vodka!" Axel suddenly got hit with a jet of water from above. Lucioforo snickered, just before he got sprayed. "Water's free for everyone, and it doesn't get you drunk!"

Lucioforo wiped water out of his eyes with the back of his hand. "Does he do that often?"

"Could be worse," Demyx said. "Could be fire."

"Dudes, we're a little crunched for time here...now, uh, Lucky, where'd you say this gateway was?"

"Six blocks north, four blocks northwest, assuming no one's done something cute like throw wards or barricades in the way. If they have, the route's gonna get interesting."

* * *

The one thing that puzzled Zexion completely about this...city...was that despite being apparently modern, it seemed to have been abandoned for centuries - millennia, even. And yet it had somehow been perfectly preserved for all that time, disturbed only by adventurers and the lost, and otherwise uninhabited. Not even rats lived there anymore. 

Well, not perfectly preserved, he realized as he suddenly came to the edge of the world-island. Something had split it apart and left the fragments drifting in the void, and something else had tried to piece them together with chains whose links were as thick as he was tall.

_Sometimes, I would greatly appreciate it if all worlds conformed to more-or-less the same natural laws._ He knelt next to where one of the chains was secured - well-secured, especially considering the amount of stress it was obviously under. The chain itself swayed gently in an intangible wind, with the sound of metal grinding on metal and an endless rain of rust flakes falling into the void. Something bright yellow on the other end of the chain caught his eye, and he looked up - on the other side of the abyss, a swarm of Shadows were staring at him.

_If they've been trapped on these islands for long, there are bound to be far more powerful Heartless among them. This could become very serious, very quickly._ He backed away from the chain, slowly, and a Shadow scrambled onto it at the other end, using it as a path - until the chain suddenly swayed more violently, and the little Heartless was sent tumbling into the void.

Well. _Eliminate that direction as a route of escape._ He crossed over to another side of the triangular island, only to be met by more staring yellow eyes waiting at the chains. The third side of the island was faced only by the void.

_Very well. I may as well investigate the island I'm on. _ But as he explored, he came to realize something very disturbing. Long-abandoned apartments and houses seemed never to have been inhabited at all. Empty bars were well-stocked with empty bottles. Decrepit churches were completely devoid of religious trappings. The names on the "Wanted" posters at the police station were random strings of letters. The equipment in the fire stations had never been touched; the equipment at the hospital was plastic and meant for decoration only. The overturned shelves of corner stores and supermarkets proved to be stocked with carefully sealed and completely empty cans and boxes whose labels were only pasted on for show.

_This is worse than the World that Never Was. This is the World that should never have been but was cobbled together all the same. It's a sham world, as much as the virtual Twilight Town._

_And there appears to be no way out but down. _

Zexion peered down into the void, wondering if there was a bottom to hit somewhere or if someone who fell would simply keep falling until they died of thirst or starvation. He wasn't quite curious enough to find out.

* * *

"Awesome. We made it without anything getting in our way." Lucioforo gave the rest of the group a thumbs-up. 

Demyx slowly lowered himself to the ground, somehow staying on his feet and walking a few steps before Axel and Roxas made it over to offer him some support - Roxas was conscious and walking by now. "Thanks, guys...apparently I'm too unstable to be allowed out by myself anymore."

Roxas stuck his tongue out at him. Axel looked worriedly at the ring of stones in the center of the park they'd been led to. "Last time I went near a setup like that, bad things happened."

"Hey, all roads may lead to ruin - all gates don't lead to Hell. Though there is another gate on the other end of this one that will, but we shouldn't need to go anywhere near it." Lucioforo touched one of the stones and vanished, only to reappear a moment later. "Fuck that. I'm not going back there without backup." A pair of Shadows appeared right next to him, as if to explain why. "Oh, fuck you too..." He impaled them with his claws, and they faded into darkness.

Xigbar sighed heavily. "Take it the route got more interesting, dude?"

Roxas took a step back and summoned his Keyblades. "Sorry, Demyx...hope you're able to support yourself long enough to get airborne once we're through..."

Demyx summoned his sitar and leaned on it for support. The other Nobodies all had their weapons out as well, except Lucioforo, who didn't know how to summon his and didn't particularly need them yet. "I'll manage."

* * *

AN: Whee. The Heartless have invaded the Isle of Gates, the main connection point for all four planes. Life is gonna get interesting. How interesting, and what sort of interesting, has to wait for the next chapter. Also, I hate dorm computer labs, but my laptop died. I think Demyx got it wet in revenge for his spinal cord injury.

Chloroforming the seasick. An act of mercy unique to Poison Elementalists.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	14. The Long Way Down

The instant he touched the stone and was transported to Purgatorio, Demyx took off. Getting airborne wasn't as easy as it had been, now that he couldn't make a jump-start, but he didn't know how long he could stand up by himself, with his legs only half-useful, and falling...well, it could have been bad, considering the ground was covered in Shadows.

It wouldn't stay that way for long, though. Not with six experienced fighters on the ground with them. He flinched at a sudden burst of searing heat, then ducked as the water dragon that had followed him through the portal rushed past. "Gah! Could you keep that thing on a leash?" Demyx just rose a little further into the air, away from the confusion. He wondered briefly if Heartless even had blood to boil - that was the only spell he knew how to cast...

Not like it was going to be necessary. There were already bursts of fire exploding right on top of the Heartless, boulders coming out of nowhere to crush them, arrows that didn't necessarily need to hit to leave the Shadows squealing and dying in their wake, bursts of gunfire that couldn't be tracked and couldn't be dodged, and of course Roxas and Lucio were simply taking apart every Heartless that got too close to one of the central portals. A few well-aimed jets of water were nice, but not really necessary.

Eventually, the few remaining Shadows skittered away, through the numerous portals ringing the edge of the...floating island they were on, the portals that led to the rest of Purgatorio instead of to Paradise, Stygia, or Valhalla. Lucio sighed. "Great. That's gonna make the route even more interesting. Do we really need to do this?" Axel smacked him upside the head. "Ow?"

Xanrivash was examining the ground next to the three central portals. "This must be the world they arrived in first," she murmured, following tracks the rest of them would never have noticed. "Some of them escaped through the other portals, but not many." She searched the ground near the outer portals. "But they didn't originate on this island. This is just where they spread from." She stopped at one of the portals. "I think they...started from here. Wherever it leads from."

Lucio scratched his head in an effort to remember, but Demyx squinted at the obscure markings on the stones. They made an odd sort of sense to him. "Marrakun-Ahk," he read.

Lucio slapped his forehead. "Great. So much for the Shining Ones. And Balance. And the Phoenix."

Axel stared at the stones as if they were the source of all the misery he'd ever experienced, including diabetes and seasickness. "Just going by the way our luck's been, I'll bet that's where Zexion is."

Demyx pulled his cell phone out and tried to call Zexion. "Not getting through. Rings once and goes to voicemail. Lovely time to turn your phone off..."

Roxas took a few steps towards the portal. "So now what, do we just check each portal and see if we find him, and hope we don't land in the middle of a mob?"

"You know, we could walk to Marrakun..." Lucio pointed at the massive chains extending behind the portal. "If you're afraid of the portal just dropping you into a mess..."

* * *

Trying to get across the chain was a trial. Except for Xigbar, who just walked on the nothingness next to the chain, and Demyx, who flew over it, they had a long, unsteady path with a mind-boggling drop if they slipped. Axel ended up crawling across the links, just for stability. He was sick to his stomach before he reached the other side. "Kingdom Hearts, that's as bad as a boat," he moaned when he was back on something stable. 

Roxas nodded and sat down hard, feeling more than a little queasy himself; he'd been following Axel, so he not only had to deal with his own motion sickness, but had to watch Axel being sick, which didn't help his stomach any. "It would be a lot easier if they didn't sway like that...guess it's too late to take the portal."

"You two could really use some Dramamine," Demyx commented from overhead.

"Demyx?"

"Yeah?"

"Fuck you." Axel stretched out on his back, digging his fingers into the loose black soil. "Yay, volcano. I think I'm just gonna stay here for a while."

"Volcano?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow.

Demyx floated up to the top of the mountain island they'd landed on. "Holy shit - it's a volcano!"

"Told you." Axel closed his eyes, looking like he was going to fall asleep.

Xigbar nudged him with a toe. "Sorry, dude, naptime isn't for a while yet."

Axel opened one eye. "Are there more chains involved?" Xigbar nodded. "Shit. I want sedation."

"Who are you gonna ask to carry you over those things, dude? Before you start namin' names, I gotta remind you that Demyx and I are both smaller than you are, and Lex probably isn't in a hurry to fall off."

Axel groaned. "Aw, man...isn't there anything...?" He looked at Xanrivash hopefully.

"That depends. Would you rather be sick or get dizzy and fall off the chain?"

Axel looked out mournfully at the void. "...Talk about rock and a hard place. I think I'll take motion sickness."

Demyx was soaring high overhead. "Lady and gentlemen, there appears to be some disturbance on the next island over," he called down with the help of a bullhorn. "Can't tell if -" he was interrupted by a burst of static - "-less or not."

**How many are there?** Roxas signed, figuring his voice wouldn't be able to carry that far.

Demyx dropped a little lower. "Sorry, Rox - what? Couldn't quite see all of that..."

**How many are there?**

Demyx soared off again, and did a few discreet loops around the island in question. "Don't think there's more than a handful of them, and they don't look like Heartless," he said, coming down low enough that he didn't need the bullhorn. "Looks like more demons."

"So the Shining Ones haven't been exterminated," Lucio murmured, rubbing his forehead. "That's a good sign, at least. Keep the Paladin out of sight and they might actually be friendly."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Demons? Friendly?" Lucio just stared at him. "Oh. Right. Sorry."

"I was kind of thinking..."

"See, Axel never expects that, because he doesn't do much of it himself," Roxas muttered.

"Shut up or I'll go behind you just so I can blow chunks on you."

"Thoughtful_ and _kind, and real handy on a boat too," Demyx cracked. He was flying low, and panting a little.

"Demyx..." Axel looked him up and down. "Why don't you land before you just fall out of the air from exhaustion?"

"I'm not that tired..." Demyx lowered himself to the ground, took a few hesitant steps, then stumbled and fell on his face. "And that's why." He sat up, looking dejected. "It could be worse...I could still be a total paraplegic..." he murmured as he rose into the air again, sounding like he was trying to reassure himself as much as anyone. "At least I have an alternate method of travel as long as I'm here..."

They made their way to the second chain. Axel immediately went flat on his belly as soon as he reached the first link. "I swear, this thing is longer than the first one..."

"It is. Just by a link or two."

"That's reassuring...or would be if the links weren't thirty feet long..." They crossed the rest of the way in silence. Roxas, who eventually adopted Axel's crawling technique, was relieved that this chain wasn't swaying nearly as much as the other one had. Axel managed to keep his stomach in line this time, though his face was almost as green as his eyes by the time he made it.

* * *

Zexion glared at his cell phone, now dead of low battery power. _Granted, this was bound to happen sooner or later..._ He sighed and stuffed it back in his pocket. In this unreal, vaguely obscene world, the odds of finding a functional replacement, new battery, or compatible charger seemed slim at best, but for some reason he didn't like the idea of parting with it. Defunct it may have been, but it was his only link to anything off this island. 

He shifted his glare from the phone to the Heartless congregated on the far side of the abyss. "Do be so kind as to go away and cease staring at me..." A handful of them blinked. _Beautiful. I'm attempting to converse with Heartless. Hopefully I can find some way off this island before I lose the rest of my sanity._

One of the little Shadows tried to skitter across the chain connecting the two islands. Unlike the one who had made the attempt yesterday - or earlier today - or three weeks ago - this one didn't fall off midway; it made it all the way to the island Zexion was standing on. There it stopped, looking up at him with bright yellow eyes for a few moments before heading straight for him.

"Would you _please_ -" Zexion glanced around, found a long chunk of wood, and swung at the Shadow. He connected solidly, and the Heartless went sailing into the void.

_That was oddly satisfying_.

* * *

Lucio came trotting back to the other Nobodies congregated at the end of the chain. "Okay, I went in and talked to them, they are from the Shining Ones, there are a lot of Heartless in Marrakun, casualty rates have not been that high so far, because they've been killing off the Heartless themselves, and they're gonna leave us alone. I convinced them that we were all Pirates of R'lyeh and therefore allies, not valid targets. Even the angel." He pointed at Roxas. "You're hereby supposed to be an evil angel." 

"Suits him," Axel said. Roxas turned and glared at him.

"I'm not even gonna comment on that...there are two routes from here to the island of Marrakun itself. The west route covers marginally more dangerous territory, the east route is about twice as long."

"I vote west route," Roxas said immediately.

"Same here, especially if it's over those damn chains," Axel added.

"Nothin' to argue with there, dude," Xigbar said.

Demyx, who was still floating in the air and looking a little spent, nodded. Roxas wondered how much effort it took for him to keep himself airborne. "Short sounds good." Lexaeus and Xanrivash, as usual, said nothing, but even if they objected, they'd have been outvoted. Demyx set himself down on his feet for a few moments, breathing deeply. "Okay, short sounds good - in a minute."

Axel raised an eyebrow. "You're not gonna try to walk across, are you?"

"No thanks. I choose life. Just needed a quick break..." Demyx lifted off again. "I'm good now."

The rest of them made their way along the chain, Lucioforo in front, because he knew the way best, Axel and Roxas in the rear, because they were the most prone to motion sickness. All seemed well until suddenly, when the two of them were the last ones yet to reach the other side, the chain swayed violently enough to throw them off. Axel managed to cling to the link and pull himself back up, but Roxas was sent freefalling into the void. Axel screamed, but oddly enough, Roxas didn't. He just stared up at the rapidly shrinking chain and the floating landmasses it connected, thinking _Okay, that's it, so much for this life_.

Then something fell past him, and something grabbed him around the waist and jerked him to a stop.

* * *

"Gotcha," Demyx murmured in Roxas's ear. "Let's see if I can get you back up there now. You okay?" 

"I...think so...Kingdom Hearts..." Roxas was obviously on the edge of panic; luckily, he had sense enough not to, because if he had, Demyx probably would have dropped him. The front of his pants was wet, but Demyx really didn't see fit to mention that. "How are you?"

"I'm holding out all right..." _Time to see if I can fly with a passenger._ They rose through the void, back towards the islands, at about half the rate Demyx would have flown at by himself. _So...it's doable...just not easy..._

_Really...not easy..._ Before long, he was starting to struggle to keep them both airborne and rising. Roxas glanced back. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Not used to passengers...I'll be okay..." It probably wasn't a good idea to tell him he was running out of the magical power he needed to keep himself aloft. _I'm not okay...I need more power or we're both gonna die... _

Well, there was one way to boost his power in midflight, when he couldn't just land and rest or dig in his backpack for a potion...

_Magic has a price. And that price is blood._

_Agreed._ As Demyx suddenly found the strength for a brief burst of speed, blood started to flow from his nose. _Oh, for...could you do anything more undignified than a two-sided nosebleed?!_

After that brief burst, they continued to rise slowly, close enough to make out Axel's face, staring down over the edge in terror...and Demyx's new-bought power started to run dry again. They dropped about fifteen feet before he caught himself. "Demyx?!" Roxas gasped.

"Sorry..."_ More power...I need more power...I don't care about the price..._ "Didn't mean..." A painful twinge in his gut that didn't go away - whatever was taking his blood in trade sure had some novel ways to get it. "...To scare you..." They rose a few more feet, then dropped again - this time, because he was running low on physical strength. _This isn't going to end well, is it._

"Demyx..." Roxas's voice was definitely shaky. "You can't do this. You'll never make it up there trying to carry me."

Demyx's bleeding stomach suddenly turned into a lump of ice. "What do you...want me to do?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Roxas turned back to face him, swallowing hard. "You have to let me go. It's the only way you'll make it."

_...You seriously expect me to do that?_

Demyx looked him straight in the eye. _All right, I need to get him up there safely. I need enough power to do that much, and I need to stay alive long enough to do it. That's all I need. Just do that much._ "No." Faint popping sensations in both sides of his chest, followed by knifelike pain. He coughed weakly, and tasted blood in the back of his throat. "Either I get you...back up there...or we both fall...I'm not letting go." And suddenly, they soared.

Axel's face was dead white under his tattoos by the time they reached "solid" ground. "For a few minutes there, I was sure both of you were gonna fall," he gasped, as he and Lexaeus took Roxas's arms and hauled him to safety.

Demyx smiled faintly. _You don't know the half of it...I'm so tired..._ He closed his eyes for a moment, and suddenly he was rising again, except his body was tumbling backwards into the abyss.

* * *

"Why did he do that?" Roxas whispered for the Kingdom-Hearts-knew-whatth time. Axel still didn't have a good answer for him; he just squeezed his shoulders again, in an attempt to be reassuring. It hadn't worked so far. "He knew it had to be one or the other of us...why did he do that?" 

"Rox, I don't know, because I don't know what was going on in his head at the time," Axel confessed. "But if it were me, I'd have done the exact same thing. And I bet you'd be asking him why I'd do such a thing."

Roxas almost came close to smiling faintly, which was the best he'd done in two hours. "You're probably right." He shivered. "I just...can't stop thinking about him...wondering if he's hit bottom yet or if there's no bottom to hit at all, wondering if he's just gonna keep falling forever, or at least until he starves to death...that would be so awful..." He shuddered more violently. "And that could have been me..."

"Rox?" Axel said gently, and the younger Nobody looked up at him. "Demyx was dead by the time he started falling. I saw him - just close his eyes and stop breathing. He's not suffering."

"Really?"

Axel tried to smile. "I wouldn't lie to you about something like that."

Roxas seemed to ponder that for a while, then he turned around and gave Axel a hug. "I know you wouldn't. I'm sorry. At least he's not gone for good."

Axel hugged him back, but something started to gnaw at him inside. _"I just wanna die, Ax. I wanna die and not come back."_

_He was over that, wasn't he? He'd decided to live - Sarai was able to heal him - he was willing to go on, even if he couldn't walk like he used to...he'll come back...won't he?_

_Was I really able to talk him out of it? I must have been, otherwise Sarai wouldn't have been able to do anything..._

_I never did get to hear him play one more time..._

"Ax?"

He blinked, suddenly remembering where and when he was. He still had his arms around Roxas. "Oh...sorry..." He let go. "I was distracted..."

"Thanks, that was starting to burn a little..."

_You'd better come back, got it memorized? _

* * *

AN: Eeheeheeheehee. Y'all knew all along Demyx was gonna get it sometime.

The Sorcerer class, predecessor to both Wizards and Elementalists, has a skill called Sorcerer's Might that lets them trade hit points for mana. Theoretically, it's impossible to kill yourself by using Sorcerer's Might repeatedly, but if you get caught flying over the void with no mana, you're dead anyway. It's just not possible for a flier to rescue someone who fell off a chain, but oh well. This is a story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	15. Dead Line

_It would be so damn nice if I could just get a little sleep._

They were resting in an abandoned factory on the last island before Marrakun itself. For the night? For the day? As far as telling the two apart, the Purgatorio was worse than the World that Never Was. The World that Never Was at least had stars, and a moon of sorts. The Purgatorio was hovering in a big black nothing.

And Demyx was in it, somewhere, or at least his dead body was. Probably hundreds of miles below where Axel was standing, staring out the window and wishing he could sleep.

Did he really die just before he fell? Or did he just pass out? Did he wake up to find himself falling through the void with no way out, fallen so far he couldn't see anything overhead and was trapped alone in the endless nothingness? He remembered what Roxas had said, about just falling endlessly until you starved to death...

_I might be able to wish that fate on my worst enemy. Assuming I ever made an enemy I hated that much. Right now, I wouldn't wish that fate on Vexen or Marluxia._

_I hope Demyx died before he fell._

_I hope he comes back. He's a hell of a guy, even if he is deaf and half-crippled. Maybe if he comes back, he won't be..._

_He'll come back. He was done angsting over whatever happened in that alley. He might not be able to walk too well, but at least he can walk. Right?  
_

_He'd better come back..._

"Ax? You all right?"

He blinked and turned around. "Rox? What are you doing up?"

Roxas shook his head. "Couldn't sleep."

"Too busy thinking?" Roxas nodded. "Same here..."

"About Demyx?"

"Yeah."

"Same here." The two of them stood there, staring out the window at a whole lot of nothing, until they eventually woke up with stiff backs and crooked necks.

* * *

"Hey, does this chain look short enough for you two to handle?" 

Roxas glared at Lucioforo. The demon Nobody was apparently more-or-less immune to motion sickness, and took great delight in teasing those who were prone to it, including Axel and Roxas. It didn't help that the long chain bridges between floating islands tended to sway more than enough to provoke nausea. Enough to throw someone off if they were unlucky.

_That could have been me. Instead, it was Demyx. Except he didn't fall off the chain...he never set foot on the chain; he flew instead...but when I fell, he saved me...and died...why?_

He shook his head and actually looked at the chain. It was only one link long, not including the anchorages. "Oh...that looks manageable."

"I hope so, because that's about as short as they get...the pleasant, vermin-infested city of Marrakun, popularly known as the Village of the Damned, lies just beyond."

"Village of the Damned," Axel repeated dubiously. "That sounds charming."

"It's about as charming as it sounds, which is why I tend to stay away from the place...besides, Balance and the Phoenix would eat me. You had better hope Balance doesn't get their hands on you - they have freaky ideas about the role of Nexus Champions in the world, and they're likely to read you philosophical garbage until your head falls off or they have you brainwashed. If they caught you hanging around with angels and demons, they'd chain you down and read you philosophical garbage. They might even read poems to you."

Axel just stared at him in horror. "...I hope you're joking."

Roxas was watching the other end of the chain bridge - a little knot of Heartless had just appeared. They stood there, blinking yellow eyes at the Nobodies on the other side, until they apparently decided en masse to risk crossing the chain. Unfortunately, the chain was too short to sway much, and they all made it to the other side. They were immediately met by Keyblades. "Guess they're in a hurry..."

Only Xigbar summoned his weapons - Roxas dispelled his, and no one else summoned theirs, because they'd need their hands free to cross the chain. "If Zexion's not over there somewhere, I'm gonna be pissed," Axel muttered. As they took their places in the line to cross the chain, Roxas caught him examining a broadpoint arrow with blood on its shaft. "Very, very pissed..."

* * *

A soul, floating in the void above the Nexus, shapeless and formless, one of thousands ripped from their former bodies and cast adrift, waiting for a chance to return. The entire world spread out below, but the ruined body that used to house it - him - was long lost to the abyss. 

_Do you choose to return?_

Memory...knifelike pain in both sides of his chest, like his lungs had been punctured...the last, desperate surge, to save...someone...before his strength gave out completely...a teenage boy with white hair and black skin, being pulled to safety...then he'd closed his eyes, and his body fell away...

_Who am I? What was I? Who was I trying to save?_

There was no such thing as sound in limbo, as the living would understand it, but he sensed - something - from the world below, something that drew him like a magnet...something he didn't exactly hear, because no one could hear anything in the void and he couldn't hear anything anywhere...

"But the bravest fell, and the requiem bell rang mournfully and clear for those who died that Eastertide, in the springtime of the year..."

_What...is that? I like it...  
_

"And the world did gaze in deep amaze at the fearless men but few who bore the fight so that freedom's light might shine through the foggy dew."

_It's...music, isn't it? Someone singing?..._

"And back through the glen I rode again, and my heart with grief was sore, for I parted then with valiant friends whom I never will see no more..."

_Yes. I want to return. To the music._

"But to and fro in my dreams I go, and I'd kneel and pray for you..."

In an echo of the freefall his former shell had been sent into, he started falling towards the world...faster - too fast...

"For slavery fled, O glorious dead, when you fell in the foggy dew."

A breath, solitary.

A pair of sea-colored eyes opened, taking in the dirty streets around them. Demyx rested quietly, waiting for his mind to finish sorting itself out before he tried to move. Besides, he needed a rest. Apparently dying really took it out of you. Who told him that death was a pain in the ass? That would have been Axel...well, Axel was right. It had been peaceful up there, though. No worries, and all that. Yeah. Hakuna matata.

_Wait...since this is technically the next life..._He found an old newspaper, and crumpled it up so the paper crinkled audibly. Then he reached up, removed his hearing aids, and smoothed the newspaper out. He didn't hear a thing. He crumpled it up again. Nothing. He replaced his hearing aids and smoothed it out again. That time, he heard it.

He sighed. _Oh, well..._

He stood up and walked up the short flight of stairs to the apartment building he'd found himself in front of. It wasn't until he was already in the door that he realized he shouldn't have been able to do that. His back injury had left him barely able to walk by himself, let alone climb stairs without thinking about it.

_...I can walk. Kingdom Hearts, I can actually move by myself..._

To say he was elated would be putting it mildly. By the time he wandered back out of the apartment, with a white cowboy hat and a baseball bat, he had trouble keeping his feet on the ground. He was dancing, just to prove he could. "I'm singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain..." He twirled the baseball bat, pretending it was an umbrella. "What a glorious feelin', I'm happy again..."

"Nine, what in Kingdom Hearts's name are you doing?"

"Hi, Zexion! I'm dancing! I walk down the lane with a happy refrain..."

He didn't pay a bit of attention as Zexion covered his eyes and shook his head. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look?"

"I bet I look like a damn idiot. Good thing I don't care." Demyx danced off, humming, leaving Zexion staring after him. "Just dancin' and singin' in the rain..."

* * *

Axel stared down at his cell phone like it was the source of all the worlds' miseries. _How could Demyx's number be out of service, unless he hasn't come back yet...and why hasn't he come back yet? It's been at least 24 hours by now, I know it has..._

"Axel?" He sighed and put the phone back in his pocket. "We're about done in this part of the city - has he answered yet?"

Axel shook his head, and Roxas's face fell. "Keeps saying his number's out of service. I guess he...just hasn't come back yet..."

Roxas sighed. "Taking him a while, isn't it." Axel nodded, not eager to disclose his major cause for concern. Roxas picked up on it anyway. "Ax? What's up?"

Axel hesitated for a long moment before answering. "...I'm afraid he might have decided not to come back."

"...Demyx? Not come back? Why wouldn't he?"

"I..." Axel sighed. "I don't know, exactly. I do know that back at the hospital on Harper Island was about the lowest I've ever seen him - even lower than when he went deaf. I know I told you that - but I don't know whether or not I told you...he told me at the time he wanted to die and not come back. And he damn near did. I had to talk him out of dying on the spot so the angel could heal him. I thought he was okay, after that, but..." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I don't know. I just..."

"There's got to be some other reason. Maybe his phone got wrecked or something."

"Maybe," Axel said. He wasn't even slightly convinced.

Roxas put a hand on his shoulder. "Why did he want to die so badly at the hospital?"

"Still not sure," Axel murmured. "At first I thought it was because he wasn't able to save Zexion. Or because as far as we knew at the time, he'd be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Or because he had to do so much fighting and cause so many deaths, even if they were all demons and they were all coming back anyway. Or all three, I guess." He sighed and shook his head. "I dunno. If it turns out he never comes back, I'm afraid I'm gonna be asking myself for the rest of my life - why didn't he come back? Was it something I said, or something I didn't say? Was there some cue I should have picked up on and didn't? Some little hint I missed and shouldn't have? Or had he already made up his mind - if he died, he was gonna stay there - and I couldn't have done anything about it even if I'd known?" His voice was starting to crack towards the end, and his eyesight was growing blurry. "Times like this, I wonder if the ones who gave up on feeling emotions didn't have a good idea there. Whether this whole emotions business is really worth it."

Roxas gave him a look. Specifically, an "Axel, you're being stupid" look. "Let's say you did decide to stop feeling emotions, and Demyx walked around the corner five minutes later. If you could feel, you'd be thrilled, right?" Axel nodded. "But you wouldn't be able to feel a thing. And since he'd still be able to feel, he'd be thrilled to see you, and expect you to at least react in some positive way. And when you didn't react at all, how do you think he'd feel then?" Axel sighed. "And how much do you think I'd enjoy trying to have to explain you to him? How do you think he'd react to that?"

"...Pretty badly. He'd go off and angst somewhere dark and unpleasant. And I wouldn't care, because I wouldn't be able to feel." Axel sighed and stared up at the sky. "You know, this is pure speculation on your part."

"Yours too. I think it's more likely he lost his phone."

"Hey! You dudes gonna stand around and chat all day?"

_Do not flip off a guy with guns that shoot magic bullets. There's no way it can end well._ Axel sighed. "We'd better get going."

* * *

"This isn't gonna end well," Demyx muttered as he stared at the potion Zexion was trying to convince him to drink. It was a bright rosy color, clear as glass, and he had no idea what it was, which frightened him a little. 

"The least you can do is experiment. Simply because you are unable to identify any beneficial effects it may have does not necessarily mean it has none. We're rather short on useful activities here."

"I kind of suspect it doesn't - all right, I'll drink it. One drink. Just for an experiment." He drank a mouthful of the pink stuff and waited to see what effect it would have. It tasted like cherries and almonds. "Not bad...at least as far as flavor goes...but I don't think it's doing anything really spectacular. Just tasting good and looking pretty."

Zexion shrugged. "Perhaps it's not meant to have any magical effect. Perhaps it was only meant as a fl - Kingdom Hearts."

The bottle fell and shattered as Demyx was hit with agonizing stomach cramps. As Zexion watched in dismay, he doubled over, fell to his knees, and was violently sick. "Next time I don't wanna drink something, that means _you_ drink it if you wanna know what it does that badly," Demyx croaked after his stomach stopped cramping and spasming. "That was awful."

Zexion took a step back from the bright pink vomit. "Next time you decide something is unfit for consumption, I'll simply take your word for it."

"Wish you'd done that earlier," Demyx muttered as he pulled himself to his feet. He was amazed he could even stand up by himself - that pink stuff had to have been poisonous. He still felt a little dizzy and disoriented. "Good thing I only had one drink. I wanna go lie down for a while."

"I can hardly blame you - would you be so kind as to loan me your mobile phone first? My battery is dead."

"Sure..." Demyx started searching his pockets, trying to remember which one he'd left it in. It wasn't in any of them. "I can't find it."

That obviously wasn't the answer Zexion was looking for. "You managed to lose it?"

"I don't know - it's just not there anymore..." Demyx went through all his pockets a second time before rummaging through his backpack. "It's like I never even had it." He sighed. "It's not in my backpack either. That's just lovely. Forget it, I'm gonna go lie down for a while and try again later..."

* * *

_Come on, I'm beggin' you, answer, just so I know you're alive..._

"We're sorry. The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please hang up and..." Axel obeyed the obviously recorded voice on the other end, and came close to throwing his phone into the abyss.

It was so easy to lose track of time when all your attention was focused on wiping out Heartless, but the phone kept track of how long it had been since he last tried calling Demyx's phone. So far, he'd been gone for 36 hours. It had taken Axel 18 to come back from the dead. Zexion had only needed 10.

Maybe Roxas was right. Maybe Demyx had lost his phone.

If that was the case, they'd never find him again, even if they scoured the whole Nexus.

Maybe he hadn't died before he fell. Maybe he had only passed out. Maybe he was still alive, and still falling. Maybe he'd keep falling until he starved to death, or found some way to commit suicide in midair, or forever.

Maybe he was dead, but hadn't died before he fell; maybe he'd died later, while he was falling, or when he finally hit something. Then Axel would have no way to know how long it had been since he died. It could have been just a few minutes.

Maybe he had died before he fell. Axel had never seen anyone die right in front of him that he hadn't killed himself, but the way Demyx's eyes had closed right before he started to fall...there had been a definite sense of finality about it, that you didn't see in someone who'd only fainted. Maybe he was dead, and not coming back.

"Hey, Axel!" He barely heard Roxas calling him. A few more Heartless could wait while he tried Demyx's phone again.

"We're sorry. The number you have di-" He snapped the phone shut on the recording.

"Axel? Are you okay?" Suddenly, Roxas was standing right next to him. "What's wrong?" He saw the phone in Axel's hand. "Demyx still isn't answering?"

"No. Still says his number's not in service." _Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend somewhere in all the bitterness..._

"He'll come back, Ax. He's just lost his phone or something. I can't imagine he wouldn't want to come back. He likes life too much."

"I...hope you're right." _But I'd have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life._ "Any sign of Zexion yet?"

"No. No one we've talked to has seen anyone who even comes close to his description. And you'd think he'd have shown himself by now if he was here - we haven't exactly been hiding."

Axel sighed and gritted his teeth. Then he paused. "Is...that your great big feathery wing stretching behind my back?"

Roxas might have rolled his eyes, but they were all the same color - no irises, no pupils. "Yes! That's why I wanted to get your attention, you idiot!"

* * *

AN: Cool, Roxas has wings. That must mean he's a Divine Champion now. So if he dies and respawns, he'll look even freakier than he already does. We could be getting into "barely recognizable as humanoid" freaky. Now Axel's reaction to that would be funny. 

Of course, you know, this means I have to kill him now...which means that maybe I won't, just to be difficult.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized? I don't own "Foggy Dew", "Singin' in the Rain", or "How to Save a Life", either, they're all copyright...whoever owns them. Actually, the lyrics to "Foggy Dew" may be in the public domain.


	16. All Will Be Well

Demyx sat up stiffly, his whole body aching. He didn't know why; it wasn't like he'd done anything very physically taxing yesterday - or earlier today; one or the other. Actually, for all he knew, it was two weeks ago, but he figured he'd be much hungrier if he'd been asleep for that long. He really didn't have much appetite at all; rather, he felt a little queasy.

Maybe it was that potion Zexion had talked him into sampling. The one that had looked so pretty and tasted pretty good, until it made him sick as a dog after one mouthful. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it wasn't meant for drinking. He wondered briefly what would have happened if he'd drunk the whole thing, then decided it was a good thing he never found out, considering what that one mouthful had done to him after just a few minutes. It wouldn't surprise him any if it had lingering effects.

Well, obviously a good, long nap hadn't helped that much, even though he would have liked to take another one anyway. But he'd told Zexion he'd look for his missing cell phone again when he woke up. Sighing, he took his robe off the hook behind the apartment door, turned it upside down over the bed, and gave it a good shake. All he got out of that was a candy bar, a pen, two mezrabs, and a few folded sheets of blank staff paper. He went and searched each pocket one by one anyway, and still came up dry. Then he emptied out his backpack, just in case, and still didn't find his phone. He sat back and sighed. _Where the hell did it go?_

Well, at least he could honestly tell Zexion he hadn't been able to find it, even after a little rest. Besides, there were other things he'd rather do at the moment. First, out of the half-dozen or so potions he'd pulled out of his backpack, he picked out a bottle of something pale yellow that smelled like sweet tropical fruit and struck him as being what he needed at the moment. He drank it warily, remembering the beautiful pink potion that had knocked him for six earlier, but the yellow potion made him feel a little better, not worse. Then he slid the mezrabs on his fingers, fitting them perfectly over the dark grooves worn into his fingertips, and summoned his sitar.

Nothing like a little quality time with the love of one's unlife. It had been too long - four days, at least.

* * *

"Having fun up there, Rox?" 

Roxas pulled up and hovered in midair, beating his wings just enough to keep himself in place. Now that the Shining Ones' section of Marrakun had been cleared of Heartless, he was trying out his new wings. "Heck yeah! This is a blast!"

"Not making you sick or anything, is it?" Well, obviously not, otherwise Roxas wouldn't have been getting such a kick out of it. But Axel just had to ask. He was wondering what it was like, and kind of wishing he could try it for himself. It did look like a lot of fun.

"If it was making me sick, I wouldn't be having this much fun, don't you think?"

"Lucky you, won't have to deal with those damn chains anymore. You can just fly all over the place now."

Roxas sighed and swooped down for a landing, taking a few extra steps to brake himself. "Wish I'd grown these earlier."

Axel looked down at his feet. "Yeah." He couldn't force the images out of his mind - the chain swaying violently; Roxas being thrown off into the abyss; Demyx's desperate plunge to save him and even more desperate struggle to get him back to solid ground; the triumph at the end, as he and Lexaeus finally pulled Roxas to safety, turning to tragedy at the last possible moment, as Demyx closed his eyes, slipped their grasp, and disappeared into the endless darkness.

"Still haven't heard from him?"

"Not a damn thing. I dunno - maybe the problem's on my end. Lemme borrow your phone for a second." It had been almost 48 hours since Demyx fell - he should have had more than enough time to come back to life in a remade body, and maybe answer his cell phone.

"If his number is no longer in service, I don't see how the problem could be on your end..." Instead of handing his phone over, Roxas tried to dial Demyx himself. He sighed and shook his head. "Still not getting through. Still not in service. Ax, he'll come back. Maybe he's already back, and just lost his phone or broke it or something."

Axel sighed. "I wish I could believe that." Roxas's optimistic theory seemed so...unlikely compared to the conclusion he'd formed, after Demyx had told him he wanted to die and not come back. As time wore on, Axel grew more and more certain he'd done just that.

"This is Demyx we're talking about, remember. He's too lively to want to stay dead forever if he had any other choice. Fine. Maybe he hasn't come back yet. That doesn't mean he never will. He'll come back when he's ready to." Roxas stretched a wing behind Axel's back, like an extra comforting arm complete with warm blanket. "If he was that sick of living, why didn't he die at the hospital?"

Axel sighed again, then looked over at him and smiled faintly. "Couldn't tell you, but I'm glad he didn't."

* * *

"They do that a lot, don't they?" Demyx was staring at the mobs of Heartless on the other side of the abyss. "Just stand there and stare at us? What do they want? It's not like we have hearts to steal anymore..." 

"I don't pretend to understand the mentality of the Heartless," Zexion said, idly throwing a rock into the void. "I cannot state with any certainty that they even have a mentality to understand. It strikes me as being more likely that they are purely creatures of instinct."

Demyx sighed, tempted to start an argument over that just for something to do. "Maybe they're just as bored as we are. Maybe their little lives are so damn boring that watching you throw rocks into empty space is as awesome as a rock concert to them."

Zexion paused briefly, as if he was pondering whether or not Demyx might have had a point, wonder of wonders. "...Unlikely."

"How would you know? I mean, you said you're not sure they have minds at all; maybe they do, and we just can't understand them. In that case, they probably don't understand us any better. Maybe they're over there trying to figure us out, wondering if we actually have minds or not. Maybe they spend their lives wondering why humans don't go around trying to tear each other's hearts out, because stealing hearts from people is the entire basis of their existence and they can't imagine living without it."

"...Nine..."

"Speaking."

"Are you deliberately attempting to be provoking?"

Demyx shrugged. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

"Go see if you can find a functioning mobile phone. And maybe some form of sustenance that's more than an empty package masquerading as something edible."

Demyx sighed and stood up. "Well...I admit...that does sound more useful than debating whether or not Heartless are mindless..." Serves me right, I guess.

* * *

"So that's it? We have the main part of the island cleared out and Zexion's not here, so we can take the portal back to where we started and try somewhere else?" 

"If only, dude." As usual, Xigbar appeared out of nowhere, startling Axel into almost dropping the can of peaches he was eating from. "We got about a third of the island cleared. And once we get that done, there's another island about this big that we also need to check." The peach Axel had on his fork suddenly burst into flames.

Lucioforo raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Instant peach flambe."

"Shut up or I'll make you eat it." Axel stuffed the flaming peach into his mouth, then grinned at Lucioforo, with flames trickling out from between his teeth. "Shill burnin'. Lie thish." He chewed and swallowed hard. "They're better that way."

Lucioforo just stared at him. "You don't have enough marbles to fill a teabag, do you?"

Axel just snickered as Lucioforo found some excuse to leave the area. As soon as the little demon was out of sight, he staggered around the corner, coughing, wheezing and clutching his chest. "Holy shit - that was a bad idea - that hurts - Rox, stop laughing -"

That wasn't going to happen anytime soon. "Take it you're not as fireproof inside as out?"

"I was okay chewing it, but going down -" Axel coughed explosively. "That was the hard part. Rox - don't ever eat anything that's on fire, got it memorized?"

Roxas tried less-than-successfully to choke back a laugh. "I gotta say - you didn't need to tell me that."

"I wish someone had told me that..." Axel wheezed. "Don't think I'm gonna do that again."

"Axel..." Roxas put a hand on his shoulder, instead of a wing. "Who else would even try?" He snickered. "That was so funny...'You don't have enough marbles to fill a teabag, do you?' If only he'd stuck around, I could have told him - no you don't!"

"Thanks very much, Rox. Here, would you like a peach?" Axel stabbed another one with his fork, held it up, and ignited it. "They are good like that - the fire kinda crystallizes the sugar in the syrup..."

"Get that thing away from me..."

"Suit yourself." Axel shrugged, and ate the peach himself - after extinguishing it. "That's it for this can...come on, I guess it's time to go kill some more Heartless."

"Check your blood sugar first."

"Would you -?!"

* * *

"You know, something really odd I've noticed - I haven't seen anything but Shadows over there. On either side. If they've been here for a while, you'd expect there to be some bigger, more powerful Heartless than that." 

"Are you complaining, Nine?"

"Oh, hell no...I just thought it was weird."

"Well, as this city, or cities, whichever it is, appears to be completely devoid of anything like human life except for the two of us, perhaps they simply haven't had any prey available. There may be nothing but Shadows in the city."

Demyx rose about six feet into the air and looked across the gap at the Heartless. "Well, that's all I can see...I'm kinda leery of doing a flyover for a closer look..."

Zexion gave him a look. "How else do you expect to find out?"

"When you put it that way - I'm not that curious. You can go check if you like." Demyx set himself back down on the ground. "I'm not that bored yet."

"You may or may not be aware of this, but they can't reach you while you're airborne."

"Shadows can't. Who knows what else is out there. I wouldn't be surprised if, presuming there are bigger, more powerful Heartless out there, some of them can fly. If I'm going to willingly endanger my existence, I'd like it to be for some higher purpose than satisfying your curiosity."

"Is this about the potion again?"

"Yes. I told you it wasn't a good idea to drink it."

"I did apologize for that."

"Only after I puked Pepto-Bismol all over the place..." Demyx picked up a rock and flung it at a random Heartless. It missed, and fell in the middle of the crowd of Shadows, who immediately parted and circled around it like it was sent from Heartless heaven. "Crap...I need another rock."

* * *

"Would you mind explaining to me why we're taking such a roundabout route?" Frankly, Axel liked the route pretty well, since it took them right past an open lava pit, but Roxas was starting to sweat a little. "I know you know your way around better than any of us, but even I could pick out a lot of shorter ways to the other end of the island." 

"Question of faction politics," Lucioforo explained. "There are three major factions who've set up strongholds in Marrakun - the Shining Ones, the Phoenix, and Balance. They've all agreed to leave each other alone, more-or-less - an agreement called Pax Marrakun. If we were pretending to be members of any of the three, we'd be safe. But we're not. We're supposed to be Pirates of R'lyeh. That changes the dynamics a little bit. The Shining Ones - still friendly. The Phoenix - also still friendly. Balance - _not_ friendly. We're taking the long way around to stay away from Balance."

"Ah." Axel nodded and unconsciously paused for a moment, looking into the lava. It wasn't exactly as inviting as a swimming pool - superhot liquid it might have been, but it was superhot liquid rock - but it definitely drew his interest. He'd have been happy to sit down and just watch it bubble for hours on end. He felt a breeze as Roxas pumped his wings and took off, away from the heat. "Don't fly off too far."

"Don't dive in," Roxas called back.

They kept going like that in silence, Roxas flying along overhead, Axel walking slowly, staring into the lava. Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a gunshot. They all hit the ground instinctively, and Axel glanced at Xigbar for no reason he could have explained at the time.

Then Roxas fell to the ground in front of him. Not landed, fell.

Axel didn't notice when Xanrivash pointed out the location of the sniper. He didn't see Xigbar cut the shooter to ribbons with his own guns, or hear Lucioforo identify him as a member of Balance from the emblem on his clothes. All he noticed was the hole in Roxas's temple. In too much shock to cry, he cradled the body in his arms, shaking his head, blind and deaf to the world around him.

_Roxas...why?_

_I wish I could have taken that bullet for you._

_I've lost my last friend... _

* * *

Demyx thought he was learning to pick out what passed for night and day in Purgatorio - during the "daytime", the floating mists in the void grew a little lighter, and easier to see. Right now, it was the local equivalent to sunset, or so he guessed. Sitting on top of the apartment building, watching the mists slowly fade, he felt indescribably lonely. _I wonder where Axel and Roxas are...what's happening to them...  
_

Almost unconsciously, he started singing, in a voice almost too soft to hear. "All will be well - even after the promises you've broken to yourself, all will be well - you can ask me how, but only time will tell..."

He looked up at the dark sky and raised his voice a little. "The winter's cold, but the snow still lightly settles on the trees, and a mess is still a moment I can seize until I know that all will be well...even though sometimes this is hard to tell, and the fight may be frustrating as hell, all will be well..." His voice trailed off, as he started to feel a little silly singing to an audience of none. "All will be well..."

* * *

Even when the others tried to get him to his feet, tried to get him moving again, Axel refused to let go of Roxas's body. There wasn't anything anyone could have done for him; he was dead by the time he hit the ground; he'd come back eventually and wonder what the hell Axel was flipping out for; Axel didn't hear a word they said. His last friend was gone. 

_All will be well..._

Axel looked up, for the first time since Roxas fell. _Demyx?..._

The walls cracked and crumbled. He set Roxas's body down carefully and bawled like a baby.

* * *

AN: ...(Jeopardy theme) 

Mezrab: wire pick used to play sitar - it will wear grooves in the fingers of a dedicated sitar player. Why wouldn't Demyx keep a couple in his pockets at all times?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized? I don't own "All Will Be Well", either; that belongs to the Gabe Dixon Band.


	17. Upsetting the Balance

"Nine, is there some underlying cause to this behavior?"

For some reason, Demyx hadn't been able to sit, stand, or lie still all day, except to play sitar, and even when he played, the music sounded inexplicably tense and edgy. "I dunno...I guess not...I'm just feeling all wound up for some reason."

Zexion raised an eyebrow. "Experimenting with amphetamines?"

"Bite me. I have more sense than that. I don't run around taking weird pills in the hopes of getting high off something. I have better things to do with my brain cells than melt them." Demyx stared bleakly up at the sky. "I just have this...weird feeling...like something really bad is gonna happen...or it already happened and I don't know it yet..."

"What, for instance?"

"I dunno yet. That's the problem. If I knew, I'd have a good explanation. But I don't..." He rose to the top of the abandoned gunstore and summoned his sitar, hoping to play something soothing and relaxing. It didn't work - the notes seemed to swirl around him in a dizzyingly tight spiral, intensifying his anxiety and leaving him a little disoriented.

"Nine, this is becoming irritating."

Demyx sighed heavily and soared off, looking for someplace he could play without bothering Zexion. He eventually settled down on the roof of a pharmacy and settled down with his sitar, but he could still only play a tense, anxious tune. Before too long, he was biting his lip and sweating with apparently causeless anxiety.

_This isn't helping. I knew that already._

_Maybe something in the pharmacy..._

He dropped to the ground and made his way into the building. Some of the shelves were tipped over, spilling discount shampoo and conditioner all over the floor, but the shelves behind the counter, where the actual medications would have been kept, had apparently been looted clean. He sighed, but went to check the back anyway. Eventually, he came up with an bottle of oxycontin that still had something rattling around inside. He shrugged, took two pills, and waited to see if they would have any effect - going by what Zexion had said, it was entirely possible that all the bottles were full of placebos...hmm, he was feeling a little sleepy now, though...a little dizzy...but he was definitely relaxed now...he felt pretty good, actually...yeah...those weren't placebos...definitely not placebos..._zzz._

* * *

To the rest of the Nobodies still in Marrakun, it seemed like Axel had shut off completely. He didn't talk, didn't make eye contact, didn't want to fight, didn't want to eat, didn't want to move. All he did was sit there or stand there and stare off into space, apparently not seeing or hearing anything around him - like he'd locked himself into his own little world. If he'd cared enough to wonder what everyone else was thinking, he might have agreed with that assessment. In the little world in his head, the one made up of memories, Roxas and Demyx were still alive, still there with him. No wonder he didn't want anything to do with the real world - he'd rather be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, or sitting at the kitchen table eating ice cream, or trying to convince Demyx Christmas wasn't such a bad thing, or getting his ass kicked by Roxas on the PS3, or just about anywhere else with his friends. Not sitting here in this malformed hell of a bunch of worlds that had been going through them like cigarettes at a bingo hall, wondering when and if he'd ever see either of them again. 

In Demyx's case, after 72 hours of complete silence, "when" looked like "never" and "if" looked like "no". He must have given up, decided he didn't want a second shot at life, that he'd rather stay dead. Whatever he went through on Harper Island was just too much for him to live with, apparently. Or the combination of being deaf and having his legs crippled.

Roxas, though...Roxas would come back. He had to come back. He couldn't not come back. If it turned out both his friends were gone for good...Axel would just fall completely apart. And Roxas knew that.

Maybe the rules were different for angels, though. Maybe angels weren't allowed to come back. Maybe wherever Roxas wound up, it would be so wonderful he'd never want to come back.

_Maybe I'm going insane. Maybe I'm already there._

_Do I even care? Guess not..._

Something poked his shoulder. He ignored it completely. If it wasn't Roxas or Demyx, he didn't care. Even when it shoved him progressively harder, he couldn't be bothered to respond. He got knocked on his face, and still didn't react. He didn't want to move, ever again.

The next step was getting thrown around like a basketball, bouncing off walls, off benches, off the ground, into the air, all over the place. When he finally came to rest, he immediately curled up into a ball, with his hands over his head for protection. "The _fuck?!_"

"I hoped that would get your attention, dude! You've been sittin' there like a fuckin' stump all damn day!"

"Kingdom Hearts on a hot dog bun - can you say 'extreme measures'?!" Xigbar didn't respond to that, just shoved Axel's monitor at him. Just then, Axel's stomach growled like a wounded tiger. Maybe ignoring all internal and external stimuli had been a bad idea. He could almost see Roxas rolling his eyes, and hear him asking if he'd thought to check his blood sugar recently. He hadn't eaten anything since that can of peaches yesterday, it was probably pretty low...

He sighed and started digging through his backpack for his box of lancets. A result of 62 had him digging through his pockets for a piece of hard candy - that Roxas had insisted he bring along just in case. _There, Rox; that make you happy?_

* * *

"Refresh my memory, Nine - what was it you said about not melting your brain cells with weird pills?" 

"Huh?" Demyx blinked awake; his mind seemed oddly fuzzy. "Whatcha say?"

Zexion looked unimpressed. "I refer to the open bottle of oxycontin lying on the floor next to you."

Demyx shrugged. "I needed to relax..."

"Relaxed you certainly were - fast asleep behind the pharmacy counter. Perhaps too relaxed for your own good, I might venture."

"...Maybe..."

Zexion hauled him to his feet and directed him towards the door. "Perhaps you could go relax somewhere slightly more appropriate than the floor - say, a bed. There are countless unoccupied apartments throughout the city that should serve your purpose."

Demyx tried to shake him off. "I got an apartment already. I can get there myself."

"Off you go then." Zexion was still eyeing him like he didn't expect Demyx could find his way out of an empty room with a map. But Demyx jumped into the air and soared off in the direction of the apartment building he'd sort of settled into. Once there and settled into bed, however, it took a very long time for him to get to sleep, and he had some pretty disturbing dreams.

Axel shook his head in disgust. "Demyx, what are you -" The rest of the sentence was lost, too soft for Demyx to make out, even though Axel was talking at a normal conversational level, and he couldn't read his lips in the darkened room. He shook his head, not knowing what Axel was asking and not wanting to ask him to repeat himself, for fear he'd find out -

The barely-opened bottle of rum was snatched out of his hand. "What the hell's - that you think - can fix?" He only caught half of that, as Axel's voice rose and fell, into and out of the frequency ranges he was no longer able to hear. Unable to respond, terrified to ask Axel to repeat himself, he just burst into tears. Axel just shook his head - sadly, not angrily. "You're pretty fucked up, aren't you." Demyx nodded miserably - why did that have to be the only sentence he could hear in its entirety?

Demyx stared at the ceiling and rubbed his forehead. Now why did he have to remember that?

* * *

As it turned out, Xigbar's intervention had only partially broken Axel out of his shell. He was up and moving, and responded to voices, at least, but he only spoke in monosyllables or grunts, and then only when directly addressed, and he still wouldn't make eye contact with anyone. He only ate because he knew Roxas would kick his ass if he let his blood sugar get out of line, and even then he really didn't taste what he was eating. He was consumed by an all-encompassing sense of there being something very wrong with the world, and knowing what it was didn't help it go away. He was willing to fight now, though. In fact, he was a little scary. He kept his chakra out at all times, twirling them idly when he wasn't fighting, but he didn't get much use out of them, except to throw fire around. In combat, he was going around torching Heartless with almost gleeful abandon, and the look on his face while he watched the flames...well, the other Nobodies tended to give him rather more than his fair share of personal space. Just in case he forgot what was supposed to be flammable and who wasn't. 

Right now, he was taking a break, nursing a wounded arm - another gunman from Balance had shown up, and he and Axel had seen each other at about the same time. They were about equal shots, and Axel's aim was a lot less important, but the other guy had still scored well enough to hurt before going up in flames. Now Axel was sitting on the sidelines, with a less-than-meticulously-clean bandage around his left forearm, watching lava boil. Most people would have found that marginally more interesting than watching paint dry, but the worlds at large were lucky that most people weren't Axel, for more reasons than just the fact that he liked watching lava boil.

_This could be the most beautiful thing on this whole misbegotten fucked-up world..._

"Hey." He looked behind him, listlessly. The new guy with the impossible name - his steel-trap memory was too distracted to come up with "Lucioforo" - was motioning him over. Lacking anything better to do, he stood up and went. The little demon led him through the near-empty streets, into an area of long-abandoned office buildings. Suddenly he stopped, motioned for silence, and pointed at one office building in particular - with a sign out front bearing a familiar yin-yang symbol. "That's Balance's stronghold."

Axel nodded - he knew exactly what he wanted to do now. "Duck." Lucioforo didn't even have time to ask why before the building suddenly disappeared in a cloud of hot ash and broken glass.

"Ho-ly shit," he choked when he found his voice again. "I was expecting something fiery, but - not like _that_. You just offed most of a faction without setting foot on the same block as their stronghold. Every faction in the Nexus would be drooling over you if they knew you could do that. Or they'd all be scared shitless of you and try to keep you dead as much as possible."

Axel favored the flaming debris with a predatory smile. "They deserved that."

"Of course, you know, all of Balance that wasn't in the stronghold at the time are gonna be out for your blood."

"Let them come." Axel turned his back on the smoldering wreckage, with the comfort of a job well done.

* * *

Demyx sighed and stared at the ceiling. Then he rolled over and stared at the wall. Then he stood up and stared out the window. Not a one of them looked a bit different from the last time he'd looked. About two minutes ago. 

_Is it really possible to die of boredom? Because I might._

But he knew for a fact the rest of the little island he and Zexion were trapped on was just as boring and empty as the apartment. He should know; he'd spent almost two hours straight flying circuits over it. It reminded him of the World that Never Was - a big, misplaced city with no people in it, except for Nobodies. And the only Nobodies were himself and Zexion, who was being remarkably short-tempered and irritable even for him. He'd been holed up in the abandoned library for he didn't remember how long, leaving Demyx to shift for himself. At first, he hadn't minded, but by now, loneliness and boredom were eating a progressively larger hole in his chest. And his sitar wasn't healing it like it normally did; the weird, angsty music he was playing only exacerbated the problem. When he tried to play something more uplifting, he got garbage - that was the problem with sitars; they only sounded their best when attuned to the player's mood. And he was too distracted and unfocused to try to use it to change his mood.

He sighed heavily. _Solitude is nice, but only in low doses. _

Eventually, for sheer lack of anything at all to do, he started tearing the apartment apart and inventorying what he found. Pair of black cargo shorts, way too big...handful of strawberries, quickly eaten...black ribbed sweater, fit pretty well and looked good...first aid kit, no denying that would be useful...green sweatshirt, also too big...another baseball bat, apparently whoever was supposed to live here liked baseball...brown sweatshirt, in a women's size...length of rope, which he had no real use for...a clip for Zexion's SMG...a can of tomato soup...a knife, blunt as a board...a pair of black denim jeans, fit as well as the sweater - he liked that outfit...a navy hoodie, which also fit but had an ugly design on it...a tan cowboy hat, which looked better than the white one...a black cowboy hat - he could give that to Axel later...a pair of wraparound sunglasses he had no real use for...a mobile phone, still functional...

_Mobile phone!_ He could have danced. He hastily punched in Axel's number - Axel and Roxas were probably flipping out because they hadn't heard from him...

* * *

The cell phone was the first thing Axel had really responded positively to all day, besides the chance to obliterate Balance's stronghold. He assumed Roxas was getting in touch as soon as possible after coming back, and not before time, in his opinion. A little ball of lead formed in the empty hole in his chest when the caller ID showed a number he didn't recognize, but by then it was too late; he answered anyway. 

The voice on the other end was one he'd been sure he'd never hear again. "Hi, Axel...sorry it took so long to get back in touch...lost my other phone...Axel? You there?...Hello?...We're still connected; is something wrong on your end?...Are you okay?"

It took Axel three minutes to get one word out. "..._DEMYX?!_"

"...Ax, are you okay?"

"Yes! No! Fuck, I don't know! I thought you'd decided not to come back!"

"Axel..." Demyx sounded a little disappointed. "Why would you think something like that?"

Axel sighed. "I dunno...I'm sorry. Just...after you didn't call for over three days...and the way you were talking at the hospital..."

Demyx's voice softened. "I'm better now. I promise."

"I...hope so." Axel sighed heavily - he should have known better; Demyx's zest for life and unending resilience had carried him through so much so far that it was ridiculous to assume they'd just run out like that; Roxas was right all along, he'd just lost his phone...Kingdom Hearts, how was he going to tell Demyx...? "Demyx...Rox..." He choked, unable to get the rest of it out.

"Where is he? Busy keeping you sane? Ax?...Are you okay?..." Pause. Demyx continued in a very soft voice. "Something happened to him, didn't it?"

"Yes." That was all Axel could get out.

He could hear Demyx gasp and start to cry on the other end of the phone. "I'm so sorry...At least he'll come back..."

Axel sighed. "You're right...so where are you?"

Demyx sniffled a little. "Zexion and I are on this...island city...kind of triangular, there are chains connecting it to other islands on two sides...but those other islands are all full of Heartless. They try to come over, sometimes, but either they fall off the chains or we knock them off the island."

"You found Zexion? Fantastic...but it sounds like wherever you are, it's not Marrakun. I think we'd have found you long ago if you were here." Axel motioned Lucioforo over and gave him a quick rundown of what Demyx had told him of their location, then left him to compare the information against the hand-drawn maps in his pocket. "Is there anyth-"

"Don't need it. Forgotten City, south island. Gotta be." Lucioforo rolled up the maps and stuck them back in his pocket. "Coincidentally, that's where I got caught...actually, I was on the west island, but oh well...it's on the other end of the known world."

Axel didn't know whether to be happy he'd figured that out so soon or disappointed they were so remote - or preemptively motion sick. "So how many miles of chains will we have to crawl across?"

Lucioforo sighed and rolled his eyes. "You take the portal back to the Isle of Gates, then another portal to the Forgotten City itself, and you don't have to go near the chains at all if your tender little stomach doesn't want to. You can't walk to the Forgotten City anyway; it's only chained to itself."

Portals instead of chains sounded wonderful. Axel's only faint worry was that Roxas wouldn't know where they were. But he'd call when he came back, of course...

* * *

A soul, floating in the void above the Nexus, shapeless and formless, one of thousands ripped from their former bodies and cast adrift, waiting for a chance to return. The entire world spread out below, including the broken body that used to house him. 

_Do you choose to return?_

Memory...he'd been flying...that's all he remembered...he'd been flying, and suddenly, that was it.

_Yes. What happened? How did I get here?_

The mysterious voice had no answers for him, as he suddenly started falling back towards the ground - faster - too fast...

A breath, solitary.

A pair of literally fiery blue eyes opened, taking in the long, waving grasses around them. He just lay there for a good long time, with the strong feeling that he was exactly where he belonged and there was no reason to go anywhere else. Eventually, he took off on giant white wings, soaring lazily over idyllic grasslands, lush fields and orchards, simple but charming little cottages, a sparkling blue lake, and an odd building that looked like some strange form of prison. Then he saw the standing stones.

His memory didn't trickle back slowly, it all came back at once. Roxas nearly hit the ground as he remembered who he was, where he'd been, and who he was with. He stopped himself, made a more gentle landing, and looked up at the stones - there were two rings of stones, probably portals to two different places. Closing his eyes, he swallowed hard and reached for a random stone.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in Purgatorio, on the Island of Gates. He sighed with relief - that was where he'd been hoping to go. Now...which portal led to Marrakun? He'd forgotten...

Well, he didn't have to remember. He knew which way it was, so he took off in that direction, hoping to catch up with the others.

* * *

AN: No, Roxas, you doofus! Call Axel! Though I guess Axel is done angsting anyway now that Demyx has a new phone. 

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?

PS: D'oww. Forgotten City. Not Forbidden City.


	18. Let's Go Home

The bandage on Axel's arm was starting to itch horribly. He scratched at it, to no avail; that just made the bullet wound underneath hurt more than it already did. He sighed irritably; it seemed like the whole world - or worlds, in the case of the Nexus - was out to get the Organization as a whole and him in particular. At least he knew Demyx wasn't gone for good now; Roxas would probably rub his face in it for a week...

Roxas still hadn't called. So far, it had been 16 hours since he'd been shot out of the sky, which would be a little less time than it had taken Axel to come back, but enough time to start hoping, waiting, and watching his cell phone. He knew Roxas would call as soon as he returned...though, granted, he had no idea where Roxas would return to. A side trip to this world's equivalent of heaven might be nice, or, considering how his luck had been, it might be as miserable as his brief side trip to Hell. He couldn't think how, but...

"This one. Cthulhu knows I've been there often enough to remember which portal to take." Axel wondered what the hell god Lucioforo was invoking there - it wasn't one he'd ever heard of. Maybe it was the tentacly thing on the warped version of the Jolly Roger on his hoodie. Ugly-ass god if it was, but you were supposed to forget your old religion when you lost your heart anyway.

"Wait a second - what the hell does it say on the back of your hoodie?"

Lucioforo turned his back to him and put his hood up so as not to obscure the writing. "It says 'Cthulhu fhtagn', translates roughly as 'Cthulhu sleeps' or 'Cthulhu dreams'."

"..._How_ do you pronounce that?" Axel asked as he rubbed at his arm. "It doesn't have enough vowels for my tastes..."

"Dude." Xigbar poked him in the back. "En route already. Demyx is probably flippin' out from boredom."

"He'll just sit on his ass and play sitar all day if he's bored, knowing him...he's probably more worried about the rest of us..." Axel finally couldn't take it anymore - he peeled the bandage off his arm. The spidery red tattoos around the injury were stretching and distorting oddly, as if they were trying to cover over his broken skin - as far as he could tell, that was exactly what was going on. "Okay...that's freaky...though I gotta say it's probably useful...fuck, that itches."

He shook his head and kept going for the portal. He didn't want to stay on this damn world any longer than he had to - he wanted to get out of there right now, but since that wasn't reasonably possible, he wanted to go in, kill some Heartless, retrieve Demyx and Zexion, wait for Roxas to catch up (going by their track record, if they went to get Roxas, someone would die), and go home.

There was an immediate complication.

He sighed heavily as he looked at the denizens of the Forgotten City. He'd wondered why they only saw Shadows and other weak Heartless in Marrakun. The big, powerful Heartless were apparently all waiting for them here. Some looked vaguely like demons, some like distorted angels, some were just freaky, but all of them were big, hostile, and between them and where they needed to go.

_I hope this is the hard part._

* * *

Demyx was liking the music he was playing better and better, now that the endless unrelieved boredom had some end in sight. He finally had a little more hope now, and it showed. 

He hummed, softly, to the melody he was playing. He might have sung along, if he was any real use at coming up with lyrics. Besides, he didn't really need words to get his message across - if the music alone wasn't enough, he wasn't doing something right.

He sighed, and the music started to become a little wistful. Maybe he was actually getting a little bit homesick. For the World that Never Was? It might not have been much - especially since, like its name suggested, it didn't technically exist - but it didn't kill them off at the rate of two a week, the food was good and readily available, and - this was the important part - it was home. He'd had enough adventure; he wanted to rest. And sitting around bored in someone else's abandoned apartment really didn't qualify. It was like sitting around the Superdome for days on end, just lonelier.

Now he started singing. "Another summer day has come and gone away in Paris and Rome, but I wanna go home...May be surrounded by a million people - I still feel all alone; I wanna go home..."

Then he noticed the pair of Heartless sitting in the doorway watching him. They blinked in unison, as if wondering whether he would continue or not. When he didn't, they started padding up to him; he sent them down the stairs with the assistance of a baseball bat, then stood there, hyperventilating a little.

_Those things are not supposed to be on this island. _

He sighed. He didn't want to get involved in another big fight...not now...Briefly, he considered the pros and cons of going out there and fighting some Heartless versus locking himself in the apartment until further notice. Then he headed out the door with the baseball bat, dragging his heels all the way.

_Haven't I had enough of this shit?_

* * *

Roxas was definitely starting to worry. Starting to? He'd been worrying for a good while by now. He'd been scouring Marrakun for close to two hours so far, and he hadn't seen a trace of the rest of the Organization - except for that big smoldering crater; that almost had to be Axel's handiwork. It didn't tell him where Axel was right now, though, which is what he really wanted to know. He had found his own former body, which was easily the most disturbing thing he'd ever experienced, bar none. 

_I wonder if Axel cried..._

He shook his head; that wasn't getting him anywhere. If he were Zexion, he'd be able to sniff them out; if he were Xanrivash, he'd probably be able to read whatever obscure tracks were on the ground like a book. Unfortunately, he was just Roxas.

_You know...why didn't I just call him in the first place?_ He could have hit himself. Instead, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Axel's number. He let it ring until it rolled over to voicemail, then hung up, suddenly worried all over again.

Then Axel called him back. "Rox - I gotta say - you coulda had better timing -"

That didn't sound good. "Axel? What's going on?"

"We found all the big Heartless. I'm calling from under a bench, hoping they don't notice me."

"..." _Shit._ "Where are you?"

"Forgotten City. You can get there by one of the po-" There was a loud thudding, crashing sound. "Holy shit. Remind me later, I owe Lexaeus one. I never saw that thing. Anyway. There's a portal on the Isle of Gates that leads here. I think - west of southwest of center is the one you want. I really gotta go. Oh, and Demyx called." Click.

Roxas just stared at his phone for a while. Then he stuffed it back in his pocket and took off for the Isle of Gates, hoping he wouldn't get shot down again along the way.

* * *

Demyx scanned the streets carefully, looking for more Heartless, and for Zexion. He hadn't been in the library, where Demyx thought he was, and he didn't seem to be anywhere else either. 

_Did they catch him by surprise?_ He wondered briefly if Heartless had a scent, even one only Zexion could smell. But there didn't seem to be a whole lot of Heartless in the area anyway; they were only trickling over the chain bridges. Just as a precaution, he started summoning water creatures and let them take off after the Heartless. While the little water clones and balls of mist and the dragon and tornado started going after any Shadow that got too close, he tried calling Axel again. The phone rang and rang, but there was no answer.

_Bad sign. That's a bad sign._

Out of curiosity, he tried calling Roxas. That time, he got somewhere. "Hi, Rox. Do you know what's going on with Axel?"

"Nice to hear from you again; your constant silence almost gave him a stroke...he's in trouble."

"...Diabetic trouble, or..."

"Fight trouble. Forgotten City, if you know where that is."

"I kinda do. I'm there."

"Great. I'm en route. See you later; I'm almost at the portal."

"See you..." Click. _Boy, was that not reassuring._ "Zexion! What the hell happened to you?!" No answer. He sighed. _Did he not answer or am I just not hearing him?_

He looked again at the chain bridges. More and more Shadows were running over, not all of them making it...almost as if they were running from something...

"Zexion?"

Still no answer. He sighed and took off in the direction most of the Shadows were coming from, figuring they were probably running from the other Nobodies. If he noticed a glowing mist following him, he assumed it was one of his own little air elementals.

* * *

_This is almost as bad as fighting demons nonstop...I just have a little more backup than on previous occasions...well, than on some previous occasions...like when I died..._

Axel had no way to know if he'd made any real forward progress or not. He couldn't see the portal anymore, but he had no idea where he was in relation to it. And the Heartless were all over the damn place. At least the Shadows outnumbered the bigger Heartless by about ten to one, but that was starting to become very cold comfort.

"You really look like you could use some help."

"Gee, thanks, help would be great - _what the fuck?!_" He narrowly missed getting a hole torn in his other arm as he stopped dead to stare at the...um, thing...which had offered its help. Truly jet-black, reflect-no-light skin, blue fire in place of hair and eyes - the big white wings were the only even vaguely normal part of - it. And considering those normal was more than a bit of a stretch.

The fiery blue eyes quirked oddly. "What are you staring at? Am I that freaky?"

That voice was the only recognizable part. "...Roxas...?"

Roxas sighed and summoned his Keyblades. "I'll take that as a yes. And I'll wait to find out just how freaky I look."

"Here's a hint, it's bad..." That was the end of conversation, as a large demoniac Heartless suddenly noticed them, and they had better things to do than stand around and chat.

* * *

Demyx flew in a tight spiral over the city, letting his summoned elementals do most of the fighting while he hung overhead and shot vicious jets of water at any particularly troublesome Heartless. It was easier that way - and safer. After all, even though some of the Heartless had obviously taken the hearts of angels and winged demons, none of them seemed to have figured out how to fly. 

As if it had read his mind and was out to prove him wrong, an angel Heartless pumped its distorted wings and took off after him. He couldn't do much about it except take evasive action and hope one of his elementals took it down - though as far as he could tell, only the tornado would have a chance. _This is when it would have been nice to have Zexion along..._

Then one of the little misty air elementals started shooting massive chunks of ice at the Heartless. It didn't last long under the assault, and soon fell to the ground, leaving Demyx extremely relieved and more than a little confused. As he hovered there, wondering how the hell the elemental had learned to spit ice, it slowly sank to the ground and coalesced into... "Zexion?"

The Cloaked Schemer nodded, looking a little dazed. "I had been wondering how to return to my original form...the wisp form was useful, but only to an extent..."

"...Oh...is that why I couldn't find you anywhere! I thought you were an elemental!"

"...I understand why..." Zexion walked around in a circle, as if getting used to legs again. "As I said, it was a useful form, but it had its limitations. Being unable to make physical contact with anything was one of the more striking of them."

"Great." Demyx rose a little higher into the air and did a slow circle, looking for more powerful Heartless. "Now if we can just find everyone else, we can go home...hopefully no one else has died since Roxas came back..." Zexion muttered something about herding cats that could teleport.

* * *

Fighting other demons wasn't particularly hard to wrap his mind around; the native denizens of Stygia had a dog-eat-dog society if there ever was one. Fighting weird heart-stealing creatures that looked like demons - or mortals, or angels - didn't seem as bizarre as it probably should. It was when they started to look familiar that things got a little freaky. Lucioforo was currenly claw-to-claw with a Heartless that looked way too much like a former ally for his comfort. 

_That must mean_ - slash, swish - _it ate Gotfil's heart_ - dodge, strike - _and I don't think_ - slash, duck - _he recognizes me_ - strike, miss, dodge - thunk.

He looked around wildly for the source of the arrow. The girl with feathers in her hair was nocking another arrow, sitting on top of a building and looking for all the worlds like its appointed guardian. "Thanks."

"Anytime." She suddenly looked up and whipped her bow around, tracking an airborne target...but she didn't fire. Instead, she lowered her weapon and gestured to whoever was in the air.

"Good evening, or whatever time of day it's supposed to be!" said the missing Elementalist - Demyx - as he swooped down and hovered a short distance overhead. "Where's everyone else so we can go home?" The girl shrugged. He sighed and started rising higher into the air, fishing a bullhorn out of his backpack. "Lady and gentlemen - if we could all assemble in one location, we can all go home - and not nearly before time -"

"Are you certain you're not being slightly overdramatic, Nine?" And there was the little Wizard he'd only seen once or twice. "You must be Fifteen - this mission would have been ever so much easier had I realized that at Copernicus Library..."

"Um...yeah, hi." Lucioforo held out a clawed hand, though he had a subtle feeling this wasn't the type of guy who shook hands willingly. "My name's Lucioforo...or Foriuxocol, or whatever the hell it ends up being..."

"Zexion doesn't care," Demyx said. "He always calls everyone by number instead of by name, 'cause he's stuffy like that."

"Nine, would you -"

"See? It's always Nine. Not Demyx."

"Hey, dude! Took you long enough!"

"Two, what in Kingdom Hearts's name are you doing here? And Lexaeus -"

"Investigating your untimely demise, dude - no one told us ahead of time it was gonna be temporary."

By now, Lucioforo was just hanging back and letting them all talk to each other. He wasn't even going to try to pick out all the crosstalk. "Roxas?! Holy shit - is that you? If it weren't for the Keyblades, I'd never have guessed!"

"Yes - like the wings? Now I know why you wanted to hang around in midair all day - this is awesome!"

"All right, everyone down on the ground," Xigbar said as he gestured and - opened a hole in the fabric of spacetime. Apparently that was how they got from world to world. The archer girl - he never did catch her name - hopped off the roof, to no apparent injury, and the Paladin - probably Divine Champion now - Roxas backwinged and lowered himself to the ground. "Demyx - you might wanna wait until someone's in position to catch you."

Roxas and Axel immediately moved themselves into position to catch him when he landed - before he fell flat on his face, considering he'd been barely able to walk, last Lucioforo knew - but Demyx just shook his head, set himself down on his feet, and strolled up to the rest of the group without an obvious care in the world. Axel's jaw dropped. "Holy shit! You're walking!"

"Yes, Axel. I am walking. Apparently the gods of fairness and justice have decided they've screwed me over enough and one serious disability was plenty. And now, I want to walk home."

Lucioforo rubbed his forehead and finally spoke up again. "I never did figure this out - where is home to you guys?"

"It's called the World that Never Was. Not particularly fascinating, but hey. It's a world run by Nobodies for Nobodies. No one's gonna try to lynch us for not having hearts or anything."

"...Has that actually happened?" Axel and Demyx just looked at each other, then nodded emphatically. Apparently it had happened to them personally. "Now that's comforting."

"It's only happened once, and in my case, I was kinda asking for it. Now let's go. I'm so sick of having my blood sugar dancing in the mid-60's because I can't eat on a regular basis, and we gotta figure out what element you control and teach you how to summon your weapons and make portals and stuff like that. Your life's gonna be busy for a while."

"Wait a second - element? How do you mean? I don't think you mean it the way I'd normally use it."

"Well...I control fire, Demyx controls water, Xanrivash controls poison, Xigbar controls the integral fabric of space itself, though not time, that's Luxord's area - there's even a guy that controls flowers."

Fire? Poison? The fabric of space? "...As long as I don't come up with something stupid like flowers. Something like blood would be cool, assuming that doesn't fall too close under water."

"Let's put it this way. I don't think you're anything like Marluxia. And that's a good thing. Come on. Let's get out of here."

* * *

Fin. Close curtain. Unless I do an epilogue. I'm sick of herding cats.

AN: Foriuxocol's element will be blood. I'm still trying to figure out how blood, as an element, could be useful in a combat situation. Well, self-healing, obviously, but more than that. And Zexion finally figured out how to use Wisp Form.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


	19. Epilogue: Leaving Marks

"Can't say the Nexus didn't leave a mark on us." Demyx ran his fingers gingerly over two deep scars across his abdomen, as if the initial injuries still hurt. Then he turned around, craning his neck to see the puckered scar over his lower spine in the mirror.

Axel shook his head. "With a homeworld like that, no wonder the new guy's such a nutbar." He didn't feel the need to examine any of his fresh scars very closely; he could see the one that almost encircled his left arm, and the one that bisected his chest diagonally, well enough to satisfy himself without a better look.

"Nutbar? How do you mean? I mean, sure, maybe throwing a paper airplane during the meeting wasn't the brightest idea ever, but the Superior didn't catch him, so all's fair, right? Besides, you've done worse."

"Actually, that's not the whole story...here, lemme show you. Roxas caught it, and showed it to me." Axel pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket; old creases showed that it had been a paper airplane at some point in its life. He unfolded it and showed Demyx what it said.

_Just realized_

_Xemnas - Mansex_

_Fori _

Demyx stared at it in disbelief for a few moments, then burst out laughing. "Kingdom Hearts - that's great - that's _priceless_! Damn, it's a good thing Xemnas didn't catch him throwing that - or should I say Mansex?! Man, Fori's gotta be off his rocker to feel the need to share _that_ with the handiest person during a meeting! No wonder Rox could hardly keep a straight face to save his life! Wow - that's just awesome!"

Axel couldn't help but laugh. "I damn near choked when he showed it to me. It's a damn good thing it didn't go twenty feet further; otherwise Marluxia would have caught it. He'd have found it funny, no doubt, but I don't think he'd have shared the joke." He coughed. "Actually, the real reason I think the guy's a nut is because he likes Vexen's company." Demyx rolled his eyes. "Rumor has it Vexen's trying to train him to take over the whole medical business, and free himself up to experiment to his absent heart's content without having to run play doctor every time one of us gets a cut or breaks a bone."

Demyx nodded absently, still running his fingers over the scars on his abdomen. "You know, I'm thinking of getting a tattoo to cover these."

Axel just stared. "Are you nuts? It would have to be huge."

Demyx didn't seem to hear him. "I think waves...waves and maybe dolphins...and the one on my back, I think could be turned into a big eighth note...wait, these are about the same distance apart their whole length; maybe they could be turned into musical bars..."

"Do you have any idea how much that would cost? Or how much that would hurt?" Axel's argument sounded less than sincere, even to himself; he was involuntarily picturing a long stripe of fire running across his chest.

* * *

_Knock knock!_ "Hey, Rox, you in here?" 

Roxas sighed. "The one time I wish they'd stay gone as long as possible..."

Naminé put a finger over his lips. "Shh. They're your friends. Why wouldn't they want to see you when they got back? Besides..." She sighed; Roxas watched carefully. "You've probably been here long enough anyway. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble."

Roxas sighed again and shook his head. "All right; I'll go see what chaos they've been causing. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Naminé nodded and smiled. "Thanks again for the earrings - they're beautiful."

Roxas reluctantly left the room and shut the door behind him. "All right, this better be _what the fuck have the two of you been smoking?! Do you not have two marbles left between you?!_"

Axel laughed as they started walking towards his room. "Aw, does this mean our new body art doesn't meet with your unconditional approval?"

"What's the matter with you two?! What the hell'd you do that for?!"

Demyx pouted. "And here, I was pretty proud of it...them...the other one's on my back. The tattoo artist thought it was a kickass idea." He slid his robe off his shoulders, letting Roxas see more of the design. The skin under it was still red and irritated, but that didn't take away from the delicate blue-and-white swirls of watery musical bars and notes. "Axel was right; it hurt like hell...but damn, I like it."

Roxas was looking back and forth between the two of them. "I sure hope you do...you are aware that's kind of permanent."

"Well, duh." Axel smirked as he showed off the red and yellow flames blazing across his chest, crossing over where his heart should be, and continuing up his shoulder and back down to encircle his arm. "This actually took more than one visit for each of us - separate visits for the lines and for the coloring. We just didn't let anyone see the lines. Demyx actually had an extra visit for the one on his back."

"Why didn't you do something clever, like warn me?!"

Axel ruffled Roxas's hair, quickly, before he could get away. "Because they don't let you get tattooed unless you're at least 18, and you're a few years shy."

Roxas stared in horror. "You think I'd want one?!"

"His real reason is, he didn't want you to talk us out of it." Demyx turned around and removed his robe to expose the simple eighth note tattooed on his back. "Going by your reaction, I'd say he was right." He slung the robe over his shoulder. "Ax, hold still for a second, show him the tiger."

"Oh yeah..." Axel held still for a moment and pointed out the fiery tiger carefully worked into the design of the flames. "Now, you have to admit, that's cool."

Roxas examined it closely. "Can you peel it off and have it turn into a real tiger?"

"Uh...no. I gotta admit I can't manage that in this world."

"Then I've seen cooler."

Axel sighed and rolled his eyes. "You are just being Mr. No Fun, got it memorized? Would a round of Dead or Alive cure you?"

Roxas smirked. "Only if I win."

"Oh, I don't think so...you got a lot of catching up to do..."

Demyx suddenly decided the wall was really interesting - certainly more interesting than video games.

* * *

AN: It be an epilogue. 

I found a valid purpose for a blood elementalist. Though it's apt to be a while before Vexen has Foriuxocol trained up fully; I think, in the meantime, he's going to take over Zexion's position as lab bitch. And, TATTOOS!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized?


End file.
